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Number 37 



December, 18 98 



THE SONG OF HIAWATHA 



HENRYS 




LLOW 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY 
EDWARD EVERETT HALE. Jr. 



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STANDARD LITERATURE SERIES 

«© t 

ITHE SONG OF HIAWATHA 



BY 

HENRY W. LONGFELLOW 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES 
BY 

EDWARD EVERETT HALE, Jr., Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC, UNION COLLEGE 



UNIVERSITY PUBLISHING COMPANY 
NEW YORK ♦ BOSTON ♦ NEW ORLEANS 



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Copyright, 1898, by 
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PREFATORY NOTE. 

My aim in this edition of '* Hiasvatha " has been chiefly to 
give the best understanding I could of the poem as Long- 
fellow thought of it himself. Our knowledge of the Indians 
has increased very much since his day, but a really accurate 
study of Indian manners and customs would often confuse us 
in regard to the poem rather than help us. I have, therefore, 
carefully avoided being learned in this very interesting field, 
and have contented myself with introducing the student to 
Schoolcraft and Catlin, and with telling how the poem took 
form in the poet's mind. The text of the poem I have illus- 
trated chiefly by itself, by constant cross-reference, thinking 
that the familiarity gained by constantly following out the dif- 
ferent ideas as they occurred here and there was better than 
any other comment that could be given. A vocabulary has 
seemed unnecessary, for the Indian names are all interpreted 
in the poem (see p. xvi) and are so spelled that pronunciation 
is easy; 

Edward E. Hale, Jr. 
Union College. 



CONTENTS. 



PREFATORY NOTE 



INTRODUCTION : 

I. How Longfellow Came to Write "Hiawatha" 
II. The Indian Legends in '' Hiawatha " 

III. The Land of Hiawatha and the Indians 

IV. The Poetic Form of "Hiawatha" . 

V. Chronological Table 



VI. Illustrations 



THE SONG OF HIAWATHA : 
Introduction 
I. The Peace-Pipe . 
II. The Four Winds . 
III. Hiawatha's Childhood 

Hiawatha and Mudjekeewis 
Hiawatha's Fasting 
Hiawatha's Friends 
Hiawatha's Sailing 
Hiawatha's Fishing 
Hiawatha and the Pearl-Feather 
Hiawatha's Wooing 
Hiawatha's Wedding-Feast 
XII. The Son of the Evening Star 

XIII. Blessing the Corn-Fields . 

XIV. Picture-Writing . 
XV. Hiawatha's Lamentation 

XVI. Pau-Puk-Keewis . 
XVII. The Hunting of Pau-Puk-Keewu 
XVIII. The Death of Kwasind 
XIX. The Ghosts .... 
XX. The Famine .... 
XXI. The White Man's Foot 
XXII. Hiawatha's Departure 



IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 



PAGE 

iii 



V 

vii 

X 

xiii 
xvi 
xvii 



1 
5 

10 

19 

27 

36 

45 

50 

55 

62 

71 

79 

86 

98 

105 

111 

118 

125 

136 

140 

147 

153 

160 



mTRODUCTION. 



I. How Longfellow Came to Write "Hiawatha." 

Everybody knows something of the Hfe of Longfellow, so we 
Avill not tell of it here. Whoever wants to recall some fact of his 
life may look at the chronological table on page xvi; whoever 
would like to read a sketch of his life and poetry can find one in 
the edition of "Evangeline" in this series. We shall content 
ourselves here with telling how Longfellow came to write ' * Hia- 
watha," for in the circumstances of his writing it there are several 
things of interest to one reading the poem. 

Longfellow had at first cho'sen stories of the Old World for the 
subjects of his poems. He was himself fascinated by monastic 
chronicle and knightly lay, and in them he found themes for 
his poetry. But as he went on, he began to wish to write poems 
about his ow^n land. 

As Longfellow began to think of American tales and legends, 
he naturally thought of the Indians. He wrote first poems of the 
Europeans in America, from "The Skeleton in Armor" to the 
" Wreck of the Hesperus." But long before " Hiawatha " he had 
thought of Indian legends. In " Ev^angeline," it may be remem- 
bered, he mentions the legend of Lilinau : 

'' Then, in those sweet, low tones, that seemed like a weird incantation, 
Told she the tale of the fair Lilinau, who was wooed by a phantom, 
That, through the pines o'er her father's lodge, in the hush of the twiligljt, 
Breathed like the evening wind, and whispered love to the maiden, 
Till she followed his green and waxing plume through the forest, 
And never more returned, nor was seen again by her people." 

— Evangeline, 1144-1149. 

The tale of Leelinau ^ may be found in vol. ii., p. 77, of School- 
craft's " Algic Researches," a book published some ten years or so 

1 This is Mr. Schoolcraft's spelling of the name. 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

before "Evangeline " was written. The tale begins by an account 
of the Fairies of Lake Superior (the Pukwudjininees : see " Hia- 
watha," xii. 307 and xviii. 5), and ends as follows : "Night came, 
but Leelinau was never more seen, except by a fisherman on the 
lake shore, who conceived that he had seen her go off with one of 
the tall fairies known as the Fairy of Green Pines, with green 
plumes nodding o'er his brows." The idea of the phantom wooer 
is very different from the conception of the Little People in 
"Hiawatha," but the nodding green plumes and the pine woods 
of the legend have their place in the poem as well as the main 
incident of a maiden carried away by a fairy lover. 

So Longfellow early knew the Indian legends, although they 
had no great place in his poetry. Nor did he learn of them only 
by books or tales of returned travellers.^ In 1849 Kah-ge-ga-gah'- 
bowh, an Ojibwa chief, in chief's costume lectured in Boston on 
"The Religion, Poetry, and Eloquence of the Indian," and Long- 
fellow heard him. The next year he came again, and took tea 
with the poet. Longfellow mentions in his diary the graphic 
account of " the wild eagles teaching their young to fly from a 
nest overhanging a precipice on the Pictured Rocks of Lake 
Superior."^ In fact, as one reads the entries in Longfellow's 
diary at about this time, one finds several little bits and incidents 
which took their place in Longfellow's mind, to take their place 
long afterward in the finished tapestry of "Hiawatha." As he 
was walking with Agassiz one day, the great scientist pointed out 
by the roadside a weed called by the Indians ' ' the white man's 
foot," because it advances into the wilderness with the white 
settlers.^ And Agassiz would have been sure to tell him of the 
Indian country by Lake Superior, for he had been there himself 
to see Avhether it were not rich in copper. 

Finally, on>the 22d of June we find that Longfellow has hit on 
a plan for a poem on the American Indians. It is to be a weaving 
of their legendary tales into one whole. In the week following 
he made a beginning, and henceforward we find frequent note of 
his progress — one day he reads a bit "to the boys," another day 

' Edward Everett Hale, an old friend of 2 jt may be that Longfellow thought of 

the poet's, tells of one of Mr. Longfellow's this passage when he tells how Pan-Puk- 

students who had spent a summer on the Keewis was changed to an eagle by the 

plains, begging the poet to take the Indian Pictured Rocks, xvii. 351. 

legends as subject of a poem. 3 See xxi. 202. 



THE INDIAN LEGENDS IN "HIAWATHA. Vli 

the Indian summer reminds him of the tradition of " Shawon- 
dessa "—until in March of the next year the last canto was fin- 
ished. The book was published November 10, 1855. 

II. The Indian Legends in "Hiawatha." 

Longfellow read many books in search of Indian lore and col- 
lected his poetic material from many quarters. But his chief 
storehouse of leg-ends must liave been the " Alg'ic Researches " of 
which we have heard before, published by Henry R. Schoolcraft 
in 1839. Of this book we must know something. The title is not 
very prepossessing, but the book itself is remarkably interesting, 
being nothing more nor less than a collection of Indian legends 
and myths. But whereas in ' ' Hiawatha " we have the old tales 
with all the beauty and charm of Longfellow's poetic form, in 
" Algic Researches " we have " oral relations from the lips of the 
Indians," " transcripts of the thought and invention of the abo- 
riginal mind." They have thus their own especial interest. 

The word Algic was used by Schoolcraft to designate " all the 
tribes who, about 1600, were spread out between the Atlantic and 
the Mississippi and between Pamlico Sound and the St. Lawrence," 
with some exceptions ; in fact, it would seem to be nearly equiva- 
lent to the word Algonkin. The chief exceptions noted were the 
Iroquois, or Five Nations ; the Tuscaroras, who were subsequently 
adopted by them as a sixth nation ; and the Wyandots, or, to use 
the French name, the Hurons. These latter were all of one fam- 
ily, and to them Mr. Schoolcraft gave the name Ostic. He had 
liimself studied the Iroquois carefully, ^ but in this volume he con- 
fined himself to Algonkin folk-stories, and very largely to the 
Ojibwa or Chippewa stories which had been related to him 
during his stay in the service of the United States Government on 
the southern shore of Lake Superior.'^ These stories referred to 
the Pictured Rocks, the Grand Sable, the Taquamenaw River, 
the Pauwating or Sault St. Marie, and Longfellow very naturally 
placed the scene of his poem in the same region. The tales which 

^ See his " Notes on the Iroquois,'" a re- ^ wiiereone of the counties of Michigan 

port made by him as one of the agents to bears liis name. In the centre of Scliool- 

take the census of the Indians in the State craft County is the town of Hiawatha, 

of New Yorlv in the year 1845. which you may see on tlie map, p. xi. 



VIU INTKODUCTION. 

the poet presents are almost all Ojibwa stories, although in the 
poem (Introduction) he speaks of having heard them of Nawadaha 
in the vale of Tawasentha, now called Norman's Kill, in Albany 
County, New York. 

It will be interesting to see one or two of these stories in their 
original form as taken down by Schoolcraft from the lips of the 
Indians themselves. We copy a part of the story of Manabozho. ^ 
'^" When Manabozho returned from his battle with his father he 
remained at home for some time. But from his grandmother's 
skill in medicines he was soon recovered. She told him that his 
grandfather, who had come to the earth in search of her, had 
been killed by the Megissogivon,'^ who lived on the opposite side 
of the great lake. 'When he was alive,' she continued, 'I was 
never without oil to put on my head, but now my hair is fast fall- 
ing off for the want of it. ' ' Well ! ' said he, ' Noko, get cedar 
bark and make me a line, whilst I make a canoe.' When all was 
ready he went out into the middle of the lake to fish. He put his 
line down, saying, ' Me-she-nah-ma-gwai (the name of the King- 
fish), take hold of my bait.' He kept repeating this for some time. 
At last the king of the fishes said: 'Manabozho troubles me. 
Here, Trout, take hold of his line. ' The trout did so. He then 
commenced drawing up his line, which was very heavy, so that 
his canoe stood almost perpendicular ; but he kept crying out, 
' Wha-ee-he! wha-ee-he! ' till he could see the»trout. As soon as 
he saw him he spoke to him. ' Why did you take hold of my 
hook? Esal esa! you ugly fish.' The trout, being thus rebuked, 
let go." 

The remainder of the episode is very like "Hiawatha's Fish- 
ing." When Manabozho has got oil for his grandmother and 
arrows for himself, the story continues : 

" After having finished the term of fasting, and sung his war- 
song — from which the Indians of the present day derive the cus- 
tom — he embarked in his canoe fully prepared for war. In addi- 
tion to his usual implements, he had a plentiful supply of oil. He 
travelled rapidly night and day, for he had only to will or speak, 
and the canoe went. At length he arrived in sight of the fiery 
serpents. He stopped to view them. He saw they were some 
distance apart, and that the flame only which issued from them 

1 Longfellow thought first of calling his poem '' Manabozho.'" 2 gee part ix. 



THE INDIAN LEGENDS IN " HIAWATHA. IX 

reached across the pass. He commenced talking as a friend to 
them ; but they answered, ' We know you, Manabozho, you can- 
not pass.' He then thought of some expedient to deceive them, 
and hit upon this. He pushed liis canoe as near as jDOSsible. All 
at once he cried out, with a loud and terrified voice, ' What is 
that behind you ? ' The serpents instantly turned their heads, 
when at a single word, he passed them. ' Well ! ' said he, pla- 
cidly, after he had got by, ' how do you like my exploit ? ' He 
then took up his bow and arrows, and with deliberate aim shot 
them, which was easily done, for the serpents were stationary, and 
could not move beyond a certain spot ; they were of enormous 
length and of a bright color. 

' ' Having overcome the sentinel serpents, he went on in his 
canoe till he came to a soft gummy portion of the lake, called 
Pigiu-ivagu-mee, or Pitch-water. He took the oil and rubbed it 
on his canoe, and then pushed into it. The oil softened the 
surface and enabled him to slip through it with ease, although 
it required frequent rubbing, and a constant reapplication of the 
oil. Just as his oil failed, he extricated himself from this impedi- 
ment, and was the first person who ever succeeded in overcom- 
ing it. 

' ' He now came in view of land, on which he debai*ked in safety 
and could see the lodge of the shining Manito, situated on a hill. 
He commenced preparing for a fight, putting his arrows and clubs 
in order, and just at the dawn of the day began his attack, yell- 
ing and shouting, and crying with triple voices, 'Surround 
him ! surround him ! run up ! run up ! ' making it appear that he 
had many followers. He advanced crying out, 'It was you 
that killed my grandfather,' and with this shot his arrows. The 
combat continued all day. Manabozho's arrows had no effect, 
for his antagonist was clothed with pure wampum. He was now 
reduced to three arrows, and it was only by extraordinary agility 
that he could escape the blows which the Manito kept making at 
him. At that moment a large woodpecker (the ma-ma) flew 
past, and lit on a tree. 'Manabozho,' he cried, 'your adversary 
has a vulnerable point ; shoot at the lock of hair on the crown 
of his head.' He shot his first arrow so as only to draw blood 
from that part. The Manito made one or two unsteady steps but 
recovered himself. He began to parley, but in the act received 



X INTRODUCTION. 

a second arrow, which brought him to his knees. But he again 
recovered. In so doing, however, he exposed his head, and gave 
his adversary a chance to fire his third arrow, which penetrated 
deep, and brought him a lifeless corpse to the ground. Mana- 
bozho uttered his saw-saw-quan, (or cry of triumph,) and taking 
his scalp as a trophy, he called the woodpecker to come and 
receive a reward for his information. He took the blood of the 
Manito and rubbed it on the woodpecker's head, the feathers of 
which are red to this day." Algic Researches, i. 143-153. 

This is the Indian legend, the raw material of poetry. Turn to 
Longfellow's rendering and you will perceive some of the differ- 
ences between poetry and prose. 



III.— The Land of Hiawatha and the Indians. 

Besides knowing something of the Indian legends and traditions 
which Longfellow brought together in his poem, it will be well to 
have a little definite information about the Indian tribes or na- 
tions and the lands tliat they inhabited. Although the stories 
of " Hiawatha " are old Indian legends, and although Longfellow 
does not meS^n us to believe that the things he tells of ever really 
happened at a certain place or in a certain time, yet in writing his 
poem he had clearly in mind a particular part of the country. 
Hiawatha was nursed in the wigwam of Nokomis, " By the shin- 
ing Big-Sea- Water, " or Lake Superior (iii. 61), and in the Big-Sea- 
Water he went fishing for the sturgeon Nahma (viii. 1). In his 
canoe he sailed on the Taquamenaw (vii. 127), which name you 
may find on a map of Michigan to-day ; he sailed to the waters of 
Pauwating (vii. 149), as the Indians called the Sault St. Marie. 
Pau-Puk-Keewis lived by the Pictured Eocks (xvi. 180), Kwa- 
sind sailed on the Pauwating (vi. 151). When Hiawatha went 
westward (iv. 36) to the Rocky Mountains (1. 75), he passed 
the Esconaba (1. 70) and the Mississippi (1. 71), he passed the 
dwellings of the Crows and the Blackfeet. Far to the eastward 
(xxi. 136, 150) lagoo had seen the sea and the white men ; and 
looking eastward (xxii. 4, 30), Hiawatha saw the coming of the 
missionaries from the east (xxii. 58). All this shows us that 
Longfellow had in mind the northern peninsula of Michigan, 



THE LAND OF HIAWATHA AND THE INDIANS. 



XI 



the land wliere Schoolcraft had collected Indian legends, the land 
of the x^oet's friend Kah-ge-g-a-gah-bowh. 

This land is called by the poet " The Land of tlie Ojibways " ^ 
(xiii. 3). The Ojibwas, or Chippewa Indians as they are also 
called, did live in Michigan and Wisconsin and also to the north 
of the Lakes in Canada, and among their legends (p.vii) Longfel- 
low found many of the tales which he wove into his poem. They 




were a tribe of the great Algonkin stock which at the coming of 
the w^hite men to America spread its Avigwams over New England 
and New Jersey, Pennsylvania and DelaAvare, and the country 
north and east of the Ohio and the Mississippi, although some had 
wandered even beyond these boundaries. They were of many 
families and tribes : besides the Ojibwas, Longfellow mentions 
particularly only the Delawares (i. 60) and the Blackfeet (i, 62), 
most easterly and westerly of the Algonkin tribes. The Dela- 
w^ares were a large and powerful 'family, inliabiting the State 
from whicli they were named by the English, and also New Jersey, 
while the Blackfeet are a prairie tribe now living in Montana. 

Besides the Algonkin tribes, Longfellow mentions many others. 
In New York the chief Indians were the Six Nations, called (at 
first by the French) Iroquois. As has been said, these were not 

1 The word is now commouly spelled without the y. 



Xll INTRODUCTION". 

Algonkiii Indians, but of a wholly different descent. The Iro- 
quois tribes were at first five in number : the Mohawks, the Onon- 
dag-as, the Senecas, the Cayugas, and the Oneidas, to which was 
added a sixth tribe (or nation), the Tuscaroras. Of these, Long- 
fellow mentions only the Mohawks (i. 60), as coming from the 
Vale of Tawasentha (i. 42), now known as Norman's Kill, near 
Albany, N. Y. He also mentions another eastern tribe, the 
Hurons (i. 65), or Wyandots, of the same stock as the Iroquois, 
who lived chiefly to the north and east of Lake Huron, but also 
in the present State of Ohio. To the west of the Ojibwas lived 
the Dacotahs. This is the name of another great Indian family 
living in the northern part of our western country. The family 
included the Sioux (a French name, not in "Hiawatha"), the 
Mandans (i. 64), the Omahas (i. 62), the Crows (iv. 73), and many 
other tribes. Farther west still, and extending over the coun- 
try from the north to the south, was the great family known as 
the Shoshones (i. 62). In the north were the Bannocks and the 
Snakes, in the south the Comanches (i. 61), and between them the 
Ute and Piute tribes, as well as the Shoshones proper, who seem 
to have lived in the country to the north of the Great Salt Lake. 

Besides these Indian tribes, Longfellow mentions also the Paw- 
nees, the Choctaws, and the Foxes. The Pawnees belong to a 
small and warlike stock which seems unconnected with the larger 
Indian families. They wandered over the country now included 
in the State of Nebraska. The Choctaws were in earlier times one 
of the four or five great southern tribes. When the whites first 
came in contact with them, they lived in northern Alabama and 
Mississippi, but they have been transferred westward from time to 
time, until they finally reached the Indian Territory, where they 
now form an important part of the population. Longfellow prob- 
ably was thinking of them when he wrote ' ' from the groves of 
Tuscaloosa " (i. 44), in Alabama. He also mentions the Foxes, 
part of the joint nation known later as the Sacs and Foxes. They 
had probably once lived north of Lake Ontario, but they were 
early met with by the French in Wisconsin, who called them 
"Reynors" {renard is the French for "fox"), and gave that 
name also to the river in Wisconsin now called Fox River. 

Such are the Indian tribes mentioned in "Hiawatha " ; you will 
see that Longfellow speaks of almost all the important tribes or 



THE POETIC FORM OF "HIAWATHA. Xlll 

families. The passage in Part I., 11. 58-69, which is meant to 
describe a general gathering of all Indians, will be found to be 
really representative of the great families. The passage, 11. 42-47, 
means that they came from all parts of the country — east, south, 
north, and west. 

One further point should be spoken of. It is clear that the 
Hiawatha of the poem was a great Ojibwa; his land is the land 
of the Ojibwas, the tales told of him are Ojibwa tales. But the 
name Hiawatha is not an Ojibwa name ; it is the name of a hero 
of the Iroquois, or, more exactly, of an Onondaga chief, of one 
who was reputed to have formed the confederacy of the Five 
Nations — a man of traditional wisdom, his name meaning "he 
who seeks the wampum belt." Further, Longfellow says that 
these tales come from "the singer Nawadaha" in the "Vale of 
Tawasentha " ; namely, in eastern New York, in the country of 
the Mohawks. This is an inconsistency ; but it is an inconsist- 
ency that has nothing to do with the poem : it meets us only when 
we try to make the poem accurately historical. The truth is this: 
Longfellow began the poem by weaving together the Ojibwa 
traditions about Manabozho. Manabozho, as we have seen, is a 
hero of Ojibwa legend, a mythical benefactor and hero. At 
first Longfellow meant to call his poem "Manabozho," but in a 
few days he decided to call it "Hiawatha," "that," as he wrote, 
"being another name for the same personage." This is not 
strictly true. But what Longfellow meant was, that the Hiawatha 
of the Onondagas Avas a legendary hero of much the same char- 
acter as the Manabozho of the Ojibwas. And as Longfellow pre- 
ferred the name Hiaw^atha, he adopted it. But we must not 
imagine that the scene of the poem is in New York State, nor is 
it easy to see how these Ojibwa legends could have been sung 
by the Mohawk Nawadaha in the Vale of Tawasentha. These 
matters, however, should not trouble us : they have nothing to 
do with the poem itself, and are only to be mentioned that no one 
may be puzzled at the slight inconsistency. 

IV. The Poetic Form of "Hiawatha." 

There is one further matter on which we should know some- 
thing. We have seen what served as the foundation for the 



Xiv INTRODUCTION". 

poem, as its material. We should now learn something, if but a 
little, of its poetic form. Hiawatha is not prose : let us see what 
it is that makes it poetry. One thing is what is commonly 
known as metre. When Longfellow was making the plan of the 
poem, he had running in his head the measure of a Finnish poem 
called the Kalevala. This measure, it seemed to him, would be 
appropriate to his projected Indian poem. He had read the Finnish 
poem long before and knew it very w^ell, and the capabilities 
of its structure. ^ 

The rhythm of Hiawatha is very simple : the language runs 
on with the accent falling quite regularly on every other sylla- 
ble. It is divided into lines of eight syllables each, in which an 
accented syllable comes first. If Ave indicate an accent by a, and 
an unaccented syllable by x, each line may be represented in 

this way : 

axaxaxax 
"On' the Moun'tains of the Prai'rie." 

It is not necessary that each accented syllable should be 
accented as much as every other : in the line quoted, of is not 
very strongly accented, only a little more than on the syllables 
-tains and the. But as we read along we expect the regular 
recurrence of the accent, and we generally impose the necessary 
accent on the word, even if in prose we might slur it over. We 
may call this metre 4ax. It is also called trochaic tetrameter, 
because each line is made of four combinations of an accented 
syllable followed by an unaccented. Such combinations are 
called trochees, or trochaic feet, because that name was given in 
Greek and Latin prosody to feet consisting of a long syllable fol- 
lowed by a short one. 

Now and then you will find a line which has more than eight 
syllables, e.g.: 

" He' the Mas'ter of Life' descend'ing." 

But this causes little disturbance ; we read the unaccented syl- 
lables a little more rapidly, perhaps, but the general effect is 
much the same. 

1 He was somewhat vexed on the publica- tion. Of course, he did not pretend to have 

tion of "Hiawatha" to find that some people invented this measure any more than the 

thought he was trying to foist the A'ff^ei'ato- hexameter of "Evangeline," or any other 

measure on the public as his own inven- metre in which he wrote. 



THE POETIC FORM OF " HIAWATHA." • XV 

Besides the rhythm, the poem has another characteristic. It is 
not rhyme, which we have generally in poetry, for "Hiawatha " is 
not rhymed. It is parallelism, a quality so uncommon in our 
English poetry that we are not apt to think of it as a common 
poetic characteristic. But poetic form always deals with repeti- 
tions : Rhyme is repetition of sound at the end of a word ; Allit- 
eration ^ is repetition of sound at the beginning of a word ; 
Rhythm is rejDetition of certain arrangements of accented and 
unaccented syllable ; Stanza, repetition of certain combinations 
of lines ; Refrain is repetition of some line at regular or irregular 
intervals. Parallelism is repetition of the same idea in different 
words. We are most familiar with it in the Psalms ; for, unlike 
I'hyme and rhythm, it is a poetic characteristic that can be carried 
over into another language : it can be easily translated. It is a 
mark of Hebrew poetry, and we may easily see it in the poetical 
books of the Bible. For instance, Ps. cxiv. 1 : 

" When Israel went forth out of Egypt, 
The house of Jacob from a people of strange language " ; 

or it may be found in the songs in the prose books, in the Song 
of Moses (Exod. xv. 4) : 

" Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea : 
His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea." 

Now, this same repetition, or parallelism, occurs in ' ' Hiawatha" 
and is one of its characteristic poetic features. It does not occur 
regularly, however, but at irregular intervals. So, for instance, 
in Part III. at the beginning : 

" From the full moon fell Nokomis, 
Fell the beautiful Nokomis." 

*' Cut the leafy swing asunder, 
Cut in twain the twisted grape-vines.' 

** On the Muskoday, the meadow, 
On the prairie full of blossoms." 

And not only do we have repetition of the thought of a line in 
different form, we often have repetition within the line. For 

' The characteristic of Anglo-Saxon and old Norse poetry. 



XVI. INTRODUCTION. 

this purpose Longfellow ingeniously uses the two languages 
with which he was dealing — English and Ojibwa — thereby 
making easy of comprehension the Indian words he uses : 

'' On the next day of his fasting 
By the river's brink he wandered, 
Through the Muskoday, the meadow. 
Saw the wdld rice, Mahnomonee, 
Saw the blueberry, Meenahga, 
And the strawberry, Odahmin, 
And the gooseberry, Shahbomin, 
And the grape-vine, the Bemahgut." 

But this is not a difficult thing to notice, nor is it hard to appre- 
ciate the poetical effect of it, an effect alluded to by the poet 
himself in lines 7, 8 of his Introduction. 



V. Chronological Table. 

1807, Feb. 27. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow born. 

1825. Grraduates from Bowdoin College. 

1826. Appointed Professor of Modern Languages at Bowdoin 

and goes to Europe for study. 
1829. Returns home and begins work at Bowdoin. 
1831. Marries Miss Mary Potter. 

1833. " Outre-Mer : A Pilgrimage beyond the Sea." 

1834. Called to Harvard College. Goes again to Europe for 

study. 

1835. Death of Mrs. Longfellow. 

1836. Returns and settles in Cambridge. 
1839. "Hyperion." 

1839. " Voices of the Night." 

1842. " Ballads and Other Poems." 

1842. To Europe again. 

1843. Marries Miss Frances Appleton. 
1843. " The Spanish Student." 

1845. ' ' The Belfry of Bruges. " 
1847. "Evangeline." 

1849. "Kavanagh." 

1850. "The Seaside and the Fireside." 



ILLUSTRATIONS. XV II 

1851. " The Golden Legend." 

1854. Resigns his professorship at Harvard. 

1855. "The Song of Hiawatha." 

1858. "The Courtship of Miles Standish." 
1861. Death of Mrs. Longfellow. 
1863. " Tales of a Wayside Inn." 
1867. ' ' Flo wer-de-Luce. " 

1867. Translation of Dante's " Divine Comedy." 

1868. "New England Tragedies." To Europe again. 

1871. " The Divine Tragedy." 

1872. "Christus, a Mystery." 

1874. " The Hanging of the Crane." 

1875. "The Masque of Pandora." 
1878. " Keramos and Other Poems." 
1882. " Ultima Thule." 

March 24, died. ' ' In the Harbor " was published shortly 
afterwards. 

VI. Illustrations. 

That we may have a better idea of " Hiawatha" and the things 
he had used and had about him, a few plates are here added. Of 
these the first four illustrate the Indian objects and utensils men- 
tioned in the poem : the wigwam or lodge, the birch-bark canoe ; 
the war-club, tomahawk, calumet ; the belt of wampum (copied 
from a historic Iroquois wampum belt), moccasins (Dacotah), 
cradle ; the snow-shoes and bow and arrows. They were drawn 
from the very things themselves by an artist who has travelled 
among the Indian tribes of our whole northern boundary from 
New York to Puget Sound. The walls of his studio are covered 
with hundreds of objects gathered in his travels. From these 
pictures we may gain a familiarity with Indian life that will make 
the poem much more real to us. 

Besides these representations of actual Indian articles, we have 
also two pictures from the great book on the Indians by George 
Catlin. Longfellow used Schoolcraft for the Indian stories, but 
he got much information as to Indian manners and customs from 
Catlings books and pictures. Catlin was one of the first artists 
to travel among the Indians, and his collections of pictures are 



XVlll 



INTRODUCTION. 




'Hs?^-^'%..^ 






ILLUSTRATIONS. 



XIX 




War-club (iv. 28). Tomahawk (xiii. 6). Calumet (i. 30), 



XX 



INTRODUCTION. 




Belt of Wampum (ii. 4). Moccasins (iv. 21). Cradle (ii 



ILLL'STKATIONS. 



XXI 




Snow-shoes (xx. 11). Cow and Arrows (iii. 163-168). 



xxu 



INTRODUCTION. 




Medicine-man, Mah-to-he-hau (Old Beak).— /SVe text. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



XXlll 







'yT\W 












Picture-writing. 



Robe of Mah-to-toh-pa.— ^ee text. 



XXIV INTRODUCTION. 

immensely interesting- and valuable. For a number of years lie 
travelled in the Far West (as it was then — about 1830), always 
sketching-, drawing, and painting-. He made a very large collec- 
tion of pictures, which he published under the title " Illustrations 
of the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American 
Indians " (part of it may be found in the Smithsonian Report for 
1885), which is a perfect mine of information and delight. Two 
of his pictures are here reproduced. The first will illustrate 
Canto XV., 1. 87, etc. : it is a picture of Mah-to-he-hah (Old Bear), 
a Mandan (i. 64) brave and medicine-man. You will observe his 
medicine bag of bear's skin and head, medicine pipes in his hands, 
ornamented leggings, foxes' tails tied to his heels, etc. Page 
xxiii illustrates Canto xiv. of the poem, and represents the 
picture-writing on the robe (skin of a young buffalo bull) of Mah- 
TO-TOH-PA (Four Bears), a famous Mandan chief. The battles of 
his life are emblazoned on it. Twelve battle-scenes are repre- 
sented. They were explained to Catlinby Mah-to-toh-pa himself. 
In the first (upper right corner), Mah-to-toh-pa kills a Sioux chief. 
The three heads represent three men whom the Sioux chief had 
previously killed. Mah-to-toh-pa is seen with the scalp of the 
Sioux in one hand and his knife in the other, with his bow and 
quiver lying behind him. Next is seen a Shienne chief, who sent 
word to Mah-to-toh-pa that he wished to fight him ; was killed by 
Mah-to-toh-pa with a lance. Mah-to-toh-pa is here known by his 
lance with eagles' quills on it. 



THE SOI^G OF HIAWATHA, 



Should you ask me, whence these stories? 

AVheiice these legends and traditions/ 

With the odors of the forest, 

W^ith the dew and damp of meadows, 

W^ith the curling smoke of wigwams,* 6 

With the rushing of great rivers. 

With their frequent repetitions. 

And their wild reverberations ' 

As of thunder in the mountains ? 

I should answer, I should tell you, 10 

" From the forests and the prairies. 
From the great lakes of the North-land,* 
From the land of the jib ways. 
From the land of the Dacotahs,^ 
From the mountains, moors, and fen-lands, 15 

Where the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah,° 
Feeds among the reeds and rushes. 
I repeat them as I heard them 
From the lips of Nawadaha, 
The musician, the sweet singer." 20 

1 We have seen (Introduction, p. vii) that ^ See p. xii. 

the stories which Longfellow puts together « Shuh-shuh-gah is the Indian name for 

in " Hiawatha " were mostly Ojibwa leg- heron. Longfellow almost always gives 

ends. 2 Indian dwellings. our equivalent for the Indian names he 

8 The repetitions of the poetic form (p. uses : sometimes in the same line as here 

XV) are like natural reverberations, as, for and, e.g.^ i. 30 ; sometimes in the line fol- 

instance, the echoing of thunder in the lowing, as in ii. 9, 10. This is one of the 

mountains. " repetitions " and " reverberations ■" just 

* more especially Lake Superior and Lake mentioned. 
Huron. 



2 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Shoald you ask where JSTawadaha 
Fotind these songs, so wild and wayward. 
Found these legends and traditions, 
I should answer, I should tell you, 
*' In the bird's-nests of the forest, 25 

In the lodges of the beaver. 
In the hoof -prints of the bison. 
In the eyry of the eagle! ^ 

" All the Avild-fowl sang them to him. 
In the moorlands and the fen-lands, 30 

In the melancholy marshes; 
Chetowaik, the plover, sang them, 
Mahng, the loon, the wild goose, Wawa, 
The blue heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, 
And the grouse, the Mushkodasa! " 35 

If still further you should ask me. 
Saying, "Who was Nawadaha ? 
Tell us of this Nawadaha," 
I should answer your inquiries 
Straightway in such words as follow. 40 

" In the A-^ale of Tawasentha,^ 
In the green and silent valley. 
By the pleasant water-courses, 
Dwelt the singer Nawadaha. 

Round about the Indian village 45 

Spread the meadows and the cornfields. 
And beyond them stood the forest. 
Stood the groves of singing pine-trees. 
Green in Summer, white in Winter, 
Ever sighing, ever singing. 50 

''And the pleasant water-courses. 
You could trace them through. the valley. 
By the rushing in the Spring-time, 

1 He means that the Indian tales are tales 2 Norman's Kill, Albany County, N. Y. 
of a people which lived close to nature. See p. vii. 



INTRODUCTION. , 6 

By tlie alders in the Summer, ^ 

By the white fog in the Autumn, 55 

By the bUick line in tlie AVinter; ^ 

And beside them dwelt the singer. 

In the Vale of Tawasentha, 

In the green and silent valley. 

" There he sang of Hiawatha,' 60 

Sang the Song of Hiawatha, 
Sang his wondrous birth and being. 
How he prayed and how he fasted. 
How he lived, and toiled, and suffered. 
That the tribes of men might prosper, 65 

That he might advance his people! " 

Ye who love the haunts of Nature," 
Love the sunshine of the meadow. 
Love tlie shadow of the forest. 

Love the wind among the branches, 70 

And tlie rain-shower and the snow-sjtorm. 
And the rushing of great rivers 
Through, their palisades of pine-trees. 
And the thunder in the mountains. 
Whose innumerable echoes 75 

Flap like eagles in tlieir eyries; — 
Listen to these wild traditions. 
To this Song of Hiawatha! 

Ye who love a nation's legends. 
Love the ballads of a people, 80 

That like voices from afar off 
Call to us to pause and listen. 
Speak in tones so plain and childlike. 
Scarcely can the ear distinguish 

» These characteristics of the seasons are Tawasentha, in the Mohawk country. See 

worth especial note. The " black line " of p. xiii. 

winter is the line of leafless woodland that ^ Compare with these lines and those fol- 

generally marks a stream in open country. lowing, the lines (14-17) at the end of the 

2 The historic Hiawatha, an Iroquois hero, Introduction to "Evangeline." We have 

might well have been sung in the Vale of the same idea further developed. 



THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Whether they are sung or spoken; — i 

Listen to this Indian Legend, 
To this Song of Hiawatha! 

Ye whose hearts are fresli and. simple. 
Who have faith in God and Nature, 
Who believe, that in all ages I 

Every human heart is human. 
That in even savage bosoms 
There are longings, yearnings, strivings 
For the good they comprehend not, 
That the feeble hands and helpless, i 

Groping blindly in the darkness, 
Touch God's right hand in that darkness 
And are lifted up and strengthened; — 
Listen to this simple story. 
To this Song of Hiawatha! 1 

Ye who sometimes, in your rambles 
Through the green lanes of the country. 
Where the tangled barberry-bushes 
Hang their tufts of crimson berries 
Over stone walls gray with mosses, 1 

Pause by some neglected graveyard. 
For a while to muse, and ponder 
On a half-effaced inscription, 
Written with little skill of song-craft. 
Homely phrases, but each letter 1 

Full of hope and yet of heart-break. 
Full of all the tender pathos 
Of the Here and the Hereafter; — 
Stay and read this rude inscription,' 
Read this Song of Hiawatha! 1 

an " inscription," because compared with the half-effaced letters on a tombstone. 



THE PEACE-PIPE. 



THE PEACE-PIPE. 

On the Mountains of the Prairie, 

On the great Eed Pipe-stone Quarry/ 

Gitche Manito/ the mighty. 

He the Master of Life, descending. 

On the red crags of the quarry 5 

Stood erect, and called the nations. 

Called the tribes of men together. 

From his footprints flowed a river. 
Leaped into the light of morning. 
O'er the precipice plunging downward 10 

Gleamed like Ishkoodah, the comet. 
And the Spirit, stooping earthward. 
With his finger on the meadow 
Traced a winding pathway for it. 
Saying to it, " Run in this way! " 15 

From the red stone of the quarry 
With his hand he broke a fragment. 
Moulded it into a pipe-head. 
Shaped and fashioned it with figures; 
From the margin of the river 20 

Took a long reed for a pipe-stem. 
With its dark green leaves upon it; 
Filled the pipe with bark of willow. 
With the bark of the red willow;' 
Breathed upon the neighboring forest, 25 

Made its great boughs chafe together. 
Till in flame they burst and kindled; 

1 in southwestern Minnesota. 3 Willow bark was often used by the 

'^ i^/a;^^/o is the Indian word for "Deity " ; Indians for tobacco, and called by them 
gitche means " great," as in iii. 64, " Kinni-Kinick." 



6 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

And erect upon the mountains, 

Gitche Manito, the mighty, 

Smoked the calmnet/ the Peace-Pipe, 3() 

As a signal to the nations. 

And the smoke rose slowly, slowly. 
Through the tranquil air of morning. 
First a single line of darkness. 

Then a denser, bluer vapor, 35 

Then a snow-white cloud unfolding, 
Like the tree-tops of the forest. 
Ever rising, rising, rising, 
Till it touched the top of heaven. 
Till it broke against the heaven, 40 

And rolled outward all around it. 

Prom the Vale of Tawasentha, 
From the Valley of Wyoming, 
From the groves of Tuscaloosa,'^ 

From the far-off Pocky Mountains, 45 

From the Northern lakes and rivers 
All the tribes ' beheld the signal. 
Saw the distant smoke ascending. 
The Pukwana of the Peace-Pipe. 

And the Prophets of the nations 50 

Said: "Behold it, the Pukwana! 
By this signal from afar off. 
Bending like a wand of .willow, 
Waving like a hand that beckons, 
Gitche Manito, the mighty, 55 

Calls the tribes of men together, 
Calls the w^arriors to his council! " 

1 The word calwnet, like ivainpwn and tha is in New York, the Valley of Wyoming 
other Indian words, is often nsed in Eng- in Pennsylvania, the Tuscaloosa in Alu- 
lish. It is not of Indian origin, however, bama, the Rocky Mountains in the Far West, 
but was the name applied to the Indian and the " Northern Lakes and Rivers " lUis 
pipes by the French explorers. out the conception. 

2 Longfellow indicates here the different ^ Representative tribes are named in II. 
parts of the country : the Yale of Tawasen- 60-65. 



THE PEACE-PIPE. 7 

Down the rivers, o'er the prairies. 
Came the warriors of the nations, 
Came the Delawares and Mohawks, 60 

Came the Choctaws and Camanches, 
Came the Slioshonies and Blackfeet, 
Came the Pawnees and Omahas, 
Came the Mandans and Dacotahs, 
Came the Hurons and jib ways,' 65 

All the warriors drawn together 
By the signal of the Peace-Pipe, 
To the Mountains of the Prairie, 
To the great Eed Pipe-stone Quarry. 

And they stood there on the meadow, 70 

With their weapons and their war-gear,^ 
Painted like the leaves of Autumn, 
Painted like the sky of morning. 
Wildly glaring at each other; 

In their faces stern defiance, 75 

In their hearts the feuds of ages. 
The hereditary hatred. 
The ancestral thirst of vengeance. 

Gitche Manito, the mighty. 
The creator of the nations, 80 

Looked upon them with compassion, 
With paternal love and pity; 
Looked upon their wrath and wrangling 
But as quarrels among children. 
But as feuds and fights of children! 85 

Over them he stretched his right hand. 
To subdue their stubborn natures, 

1 For some particulars about these tribes others from the Roclvy Mountains and the 

see pp. xi-xiii. The Mohawks came from West, the Ilurons and Ojibwas from tlie 

the " Vale of Tawasentha," the Delawares Great Lakes. 

from the "Valley of Wyoming," the Choc- ^ The Indians had very distinct and 

taws from the " groves of Tuscaloosa,'' the often elaborate costumes and insignia of 

Shoshonies and Blackfeet and some of the war. 



THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

To allay their thirst and fever. 

By the shadow of his right hand; 

Spake to them with voice majestic 90 

As the sound of far-off waters 

Falling into deep abysses, 

Warning, chiding, spake in this wise: — 

" my children! my poor children! 
Listen to the words of wisdom, 95 

Listen to the words of warning, 
From the lips of the Great Spirit, 
From the Master of Life, who made you! 

*' I have given you lands to hunt in, 
I have given you streams to fish in, 100 

I have given you bear and bison,' 
I have given you roe and reindeer, 
I have given you brant and beaver. 
Filled the marshes full of wild -fowl. 
Filled the rivers full of fishes; 105 

Why then are you not contented ? 
AVhy then will you hunt each other ? 

*' I am weary of your quarrels, 
Weary of your wars and bloodshed, 
Weary of your prayers for vengeance, 110 

Of your wranglings and dissensions; 
All your strength is in your union. 
All your danger is in discord; 
Therefore be at peace henceforward. 
And as brothers live together. 115 

^' I will send a Prophet to you, 
A Deliverer of the nations, 
Who shall guide you and shall teach you. 
Who shall toil and suffer with you. 
If you listen to his counsels, 120 

You will multiply and prosper; 

more commonly called " buffalo," now nearly exterminated in this country. 



THE PEACE-PIPE. 9 

If bis warnings pass unheeded. 
You will fade away and perish! 

" Bathe now in the stream before you. 
Wash the war-j^aint from your faces, 125 

WaSli the blood-stains from your fingers. 
Bury your war-clubs and your weapons. 
Break the red stone from this quarry. 
Mould and make it into Peace-PiiDes, 
Take the reeds that grow beside you, 130 

Deck them with your brightest feathers. 
Smoke the calumet together. 
And as brothers live henceforward! " 

Then upon the ground the warriors 
Threw their cloaks and shirts of deer-skin, 135 

Threw their weapons and their war-gear, 
Leaped into the rushing river. 
Washed the war-paint from their faces. 
Clear above them flowed the water, 
Clear and. limpid from the footprints 140 

Of the Master of Life descending; 
Dark below them flowed the water, 
Soiled and stained with streaks of crimson. 
As if blood were mingled with it! 

From the river came the warriors, 145 

Clean and washed from all their war-paint; 
On the banks their clubs they buried. 
Buried all their warlike weapons. 
Gitche Manito, the mighty. 

The Great Spirit, the creator, 150 

Smiled upon his helpless children! 

And in silence all the warriors 
Broke the red stone of the quarry, 
Smoothed and formed it into Peace-Pipes, 
Broke the long reeds by the river, 155 

Decked them with their brightest feathers, 



10 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA, 

And departed each one homeward, 

"While the Master of Life,, ascending. 

Through the opening of cloud-curtains^, 

Through the doorways of the heaven, 160 

Vanished from before their faces, • 

In the smoke that rolled around him. 

The Pukwana of the Peace-Pipe 1 



II, 

THE FOUR WINDS. 

*' Honor be to Mudjekeewisl " ' 

Cried the warriors, cried the old men. 

When he came in triumph homeward 

With the sacred Belt of Wampum,^ 

From the regions of the Korth-Wind, 6 

From the kingdom of Wa basso. 

From the land of the White Eabbit.^ 

He had stolen the Belt of Wampum 
From the neck of Mishe-Mokwa," 
From the Great Bear of the mountainSf 10 

From the terror of the nations, 
As he lay asleep and cumbrous 
On the summit of the mountains. 
Like a rock with mosses on it, 
Spotted brown and gray with mosses. 15 

Silently he stole upon him, 

1 The Ottawa legend of Mud jekeew is may pum was therefore a great treasure, and, 
be found in "Algic Eesearches," 1. 96, indeed, often had a traditional value besides, 
under the name of "lamoo." In it Mudje- ^ jjere is translation by repetition, as in 
keewis is one of ten brothers, but, as here, the Introduction, 16, and in i. 3, 4, and many 
he kills the Great Bear. other places throughout the poem. 

2 Wampum was made of shells. It served * 3Iishe, " great, " as in Mishe Nahma, vii. 
the Indians for various purposes ; among 6, and probably in Michigan and Missis- 
others, for money. The shells were often sippi. Mxikiva is the Ottawa name for 
embroidered upon garments ; a belt of warn- bear. 



THE FOUR WINDS. 11 

Till the red nails of the monster 

Almost touched him^ almost scared him. 

Till the hot breath of his nostrils 

Warmed the hands of Mudjekeewis, 20 

As he drew the Belt of Wampum 

Over the round ears, that heard not. 

Over the small eyes, that saw not. 

Over the long nose and nostrils. 

The black muffle ' of the nostrils, 25 

Out of which the heavy breathing 

Warmed the hands of Mudjekeewis. 

Then he swung aloft his war-club. 
Shouted loud and long his war-cry, 
Smote the mighty Mishe-Mokwa 30 

In the middle of the forehead. 
Eight between the eyes he smote him. 

With the heavy blow bewildered, 
Eose the Great Bear of the mountains; 
But his knees beneath him trembled, 35 

And he whimpered like a woman. 
As he reeled and staggered forward. 
As he sat upon his haunches; 
And the mighty Mudjekeewis, 

Standing fearlessly before him, 40 

Taunted him in loud derision, 
Spake disdainfully in this wise: — 

*^Hark you, Bear! you are a coward, 
And no Brave," as you pretended; 
Else you would not cry and whimper 45 

Like a miserable woman! 
Bear! you know our tribes are hostile, 
Long have been at war together; 
Now you find that we are strongest, 

* The bare nose of some animals is so ^ The Indian warriors, especially the 
called. younger ones, are called Braves. 



12 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

You go sneaking in the forest, 50 

You go hiding in the mountains! 

Had you conquered me in battle 

Not a groan would I have uttered; ' 

But you, Bear! sit here and whimper, 

And disgrace your tribe by crying, 55 

Like a wretched Shaugodaya, 

Like a cowardly old woman! " 

Then again he raised his war-club. 
Smote again the Mishe-Mokwa 

In the middle of his forehead, 60 

Broke his skull, as ice is broken 
When one goes to fish in Winter. 
Thus was slain the Mishe-Mokwa, 
lie the Great Bear of the mountains. 
He the terror of the nations. 65 

'^ Honor be to Mudjekeewis! " 
AVitli a shout exclaimed the people, 
*' Honor be to Mudjekeewis! 
Henceforth he shall be the West- Wind, 
And hereafter and forever 70 

Shall he hold supreme dominion 
Over all the winds of heaven. 
Call him no more Mudjekeewis, 
Call him Kabeyun, the West- Wind! " 

Thus was Mudjekeewis chosen 75 

Father of the Winds of Heaven. 
For himself he kept the AVest-Wind, 
Gave the others to his children; 
Unto Wabun gave the East- Wind, 
Gave the South to Shawondasee, 80 

And the North-Wind, wild and cruel. 
To the fierce Kabibonokka.' 

1 It was a point of honor among the In- 2 ]srote the character of the winds in what 
dians never to show feeling at the efforts follows : they stand for Spring, Summer, 
of an enemy, no matter how eucceesful. Winter. 



THE FOUR AVINDS. 13 

Young and beautiful was Wabun; 
He it was who brought the morning. 
He it was whose silver arrows 85 

Chased the dark o'er hill and valley; 
He it was whose cheeks were painted 
With the brightest streaks of crimson. 
And whose voice awoke the village, 
Called the deer, and called the hunter. 90 

Lonely in the sky was Wabun; 
Though the birds sang gayly to him. 
Though the wild-flowers of the meadow 
Filled the air with odors for him, 
Though the forests and the rivers 95 

Sang and shouted at his coming, 
Still his heart was sad within him. 
For he was alone in heaven. 

But one morning, gazing earthward. 
While the village still was sleeping, 100 

And the fog lay on the river, 
Like a ghost, that goes at sunrise. 
He beheld a maiden walking- 
All alone upon a meadow. 

Gathering water-flags and rushes 105 

By a river in the meadow. 

Every morning, gazing earthward. 
Still the first thing he beheld there 
'AVas her blue eyes looking at him. 
Two blue lakes among the rushes. 110 

And he loved the lonely maiden. 
Who thus waited for his coming; 
For they both were solitary. 
She on earth and he in heaven. 

And he wooed her with caresses, 115 

Wooed her with his smile of sunshine. 
With his flattering words he wooed her. 



14 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

With his sighing and his singing, 

Gentlest whispers in the branches. 

Softest music, sweetest odors, 120 

Till he drew her to his bosom, ; 

Folded in his robes of crimson, ! 

Till into a star he changed her, j 

Trembling still upon his bosom; 

And forever in the heavens 125 

They are seen together walking, 

Wabnn and the Wabun-Annung, 

AVabun and the Star of Morning. 

But the fierce Kabibonokka 
Had his dwelling among icebergs, 130 

In the everlasting snow-drifts. 
In the kingdom of Wabasso, 
In the land of the White Rabbit. 
He it was whose hand in Autumn 
Painted all the trees with scarlet, 135 

Stained the leaves with red and yellow; 
He it was who sent the snow-flakes. 
Sifting, hissing, through the forest. 
Froze the ponds, the lakes, the rivers. 
Drove the loon and sea-gull southward, 140 

Drove the cormorant and curlew 
To their nests of sedge and sea-tang ^ 
In the realms of Shawondasee. 

Once the fierce Kabibonokka 
Issued from his lodge ^ of snow-drifts, 145 

From his home among the icebergs. 
And his hair, with snow besprinkled. 
Streamed behind him like a river, - 
Like a black and wintry river. 

As he howled and hurried southward, 150 

Over frozen lakes and moorlands. 

' a kind of large seaweed. 2 or wigwam. 



THE FOUR WINDS. 15 

There among the reeds and rushes 
Found he Shingebis, the diver, 
Trailing strings of fish behind him. 
O'er the frozen fens and moorlands, 155 

Lingering still among the moorlands. 
Though his tribe had long de23arted 
To the land of Shawondasee. 

Cried the fierce Kabibonokka, 
*' Who is this that dares to brave me ? 160 

Dares to stay in my dominions, 
When the Wawa' has departed. 
When the wild-goose has gone southward. 
And the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, 
Long ago departed southward ? 165 

I will go into his wigwam, 
I will put his smouldering fire out! " 

And at night Kabibonokka 
To the lodge came wild and wailing. 
Heaped the snow in drifts about it, 170 

Shouted down into the smoke-flue. 
Shook the lodge-poles in his fury. 
Flapped the curtain of the door-way. 
Shingebis, the diver,^ feared not, 
Shingebis, the diver, cared not; 175 

Four great logs had he for fire-wood. 
One for each moon* of the winter. 
And for food the fishes served him. 
By his blazing fire he sat there. 

Warm and merry, eating, laughing, 180 

Singing, *' Kabibonokka, 
You are but my fellow-mortal! " 

Then Kabibonokka entered, 

1 the wild goose, as in the next line. hunter who withstands all the attacks of 

2 The Loon, or Great Northern Diver, the fierce north wind. 

does not fly south with the other birds. ^ The months are generally reckoned by 
The Indians personify him as a very bold the moon, bj uncivilized peoples- See iL 244. 



16 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

And thougli Shingebis, the diver. 

Felt his presence by the coldness, 185 

Felt his icy breath upon him, 

Stili ho did not cease his singing. 

Still he did not leave his laaghiug. 

Only turned the log a little. 

Only made the fire burn brighter, 190 

Made the sparks fly up the smoke-flue. 

From Kabibonokka's forehead. 
From his snow-besprinkled tresses. 
Drops of sweat fell fast and heavy. 
Making dints upon the ashes, 195 

As along the eaves of lodges. 
As from drooping boughs of hemlock. 
Drips the melting snow in spring-time. 
Making hollows in the snow-drifts. 

Till at last he rose defeated, ' 200 

Could not bear the heat and laughter. 
Could not bear the merry singing, 
But rushed headlong through the door-way. 
Stamped upon the crusted snow-drifts. 
Stamped upon the lakes and rivers, 205 

Made the snow upon them harder. 
Made the ice upon them thicker. 
Challenged Shingebis, the diver. 
To come forth and wrestle with him. 
To come forth and wrestle naked 210 

On the frozen fens and moorlands. 

Forth went Shingebis, the diver, 
AYrestled all night with the JSTorth-Wind, 
Wrestled naked on the moorlands 
AVith the fierce Kabibonokka, 215 

Till his panting breath grew fainter. 
Till his frozen grasp grew feebler. 
Till he reeled and staggered backward. 



THE FOUR WINDS. ii 

And retreated, baffled, beaten. 

To the kingdom of Wabasso, 220 

To the land of the White Eabbit, 

Hearing still the gusty laughter. 

Hearing Shingebis, the diver. 

Singing, '' Kabibonokka, 

You are but my fellow-mortal! " 225 

Shawondasee, fat and lazy, — 
Had his dwelling far to southward. 
In the drowsy, dreamy sunshine. 
In the never-ending Sammer. 

He it was who sent the wood-birds, 230 

Sent the robin, the Opechee, 
Sent the bluebird, tlie Owaissa, 
Sent the Shawshaw, sent the swallow. 
Sent the wild-goose, Wawa, northward. 
Sent the melons and tobacco, 235 

And the grapes in purple clusters. 

From his pipe the smoke ascending 
Filled the sky with haze and vapor. 
Filled the air with dreamy softness. 
Gave a twinkle to the water. 240 

Touched the rugged hills with smoothness. 
Brought the tender Indian Summer ' 
To the melancholy north-land. 
In the dreary Moon of Snow-shoes.^ 

Listless, careless Shawondasee! 245 

In his life he had one shadow. 
In his heart one sorrow had he. 
Once, as he was gazing northward. 
Far away upon a prairie 

He beheld a maiden standing, 250 

Saw a tall and slender maiden 

1 the mild weather that often comes in 2 i^ the northern country, November 
November. often ends with deep snow. 

Q 



IS THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

All alone upon a prairie; 

Brightest green were all her garments. 

And her hair was like the sunshine. 

Day by day he gazed upon her, 355 

Day by day he sighed with passion. 
Day by day his heart within him 
Grew more hot with love and longing 
For the maid with yellow tresses. 
But he was too fat and lazy 260 

To bestir himself and woo her; 
Yes, too indolent and easy 
To pursue her and persuade her. 
So he only gazed upon her, 

Only sat and sighed with passion 265 

For the maiden of the prairie. 

Till one morning, looking northward. 
He beheld her yellow tresses 
Changed and covered o'er with whiteness. 
Covered as witli whitest snow-flakes. 270 

*' Ah! my brother from the North-land, 
From the kingdom of Wabasso, 
From the land of the White Rabbit! 
You have stolen the maiden from me. 
You have laid your hand upon her, 275 

You have wooed and won my maiden. 
With your stories of the North-land! " 

Thus the wretched Shawondasee 
Breathed into the air his sorrow; 
And the South-Wind o'er the prairie 280 

Wandered warm with sighs of passion. 
With the sighs of Shawondasee, 
Till the air seemed full of snow-flakes. 
Full of thistle-down the prairie. 

And the maid with hair like sunshine 285 

Vanished from his sisfht forever; 



I 



Hiawatha's childhood. 19 

Never more did Sliawondasee 
See the maid with yellow tresses! 

Poor, deluded Shawondasee! 
'Twas no woman that you gazed at, 290 

'Twas no maiden that you sighed for, 
'Twas the prairie dandelion 
That through all the dreamy Summer 
You had gazed at Avith such longing. 
You had sighed for with such passion, 295 

And had puffed away forever, 
Blown into the air with sighing. 
Ah! deluded Shawondasee! 

Thus the Four Winds were divided; 
Thus the sons of Mudjekeewis 300 

Had their stations in the heavens. 
At the corners of the heavens; 
For himself the West- Wind only 
Kept the mighty Mudjekeewis. 



III. 

Hiawatha's childhood. 

Downward through the evening twilight, 

In the days that are forgotten, 

In the nnremembered ages, 

From the full moon fell Nokomis,* 

Fell the beautiful Nokomis, 5 

She a wife, but not a mother. 

She was sporting with her women. 
Swinging in a swing of grape-vines. 
When her rival, the rejected, 

> Nokomis, -Ojibwa for "my grandtnotlier. ■" The name was of course given to her 
later, when she was much older. 



THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Full of jealousy and hatred, 10 

Cut the leafy swing asunder, 

Out in twain the twisted grape-vines. 

And Nokomis fell affrighted 

Downward through the evening twilight, 

On the Muskoday, the meadow, 15 

On the prairie full of blossoms. 

" See! a star falls! " said the people; 

*' From the sky a star is falling! " 

There among the ferns and mosses. 
There among tlie prairie lilies, 20 

On the Muskoday, the meadow. 
In the moonlight and the starlight. 
Fair Nokomis bore a daughter. 
And she called her name Wenonah,* 
As the first-born of her daughters. 26 

And the daughter of Nokomis 
Grew up like the prairie lilies. 
Grew a tall and slender maiden. 
With the beauty of the moonlight. 
With the beauty of the starlight. 30 

And Nokomis warned her often. 
Saying oft, and oft repeating, 
*^ 0, beware of Mudjekeewis, 
Of the AVest-Wind, Mudjekeewis; 
Listen not to what he tells you; 35 

Lie not down upon the meadow. 
Stoop not down among the lilies. 
Lest the West- Wind come and harm you! '■ 

But she heeded not the warning, 
Heeded not those words of wisdom, 40 

And the West- Wind came at evening. 
Walking lightly o'er the prairie, 
Whispering to the leaves and blossoms, 

1 The name has been given to a toun of Wisconsin. 



Hiawatha's childhood. 21 

Bending low the flowers and grasses, 

Found the beautiful Wenonah, 45 

Lying there among the lilies, 

Wooed her with his words of sweetness, 

Wooed her with his soft caresses. 

Till she bore a son in sorrow. 

Bore a son of love and sorrow. 50 

Thus was born my Hiawatha,' 
Thus was born the child of wonder ; 
But the daughter of Nokomis, 
Hiawatha's gentle mother. 

In her anguish died deserted 55 

By the West- Wind, false and faithless. 
By the heartless Mudjekeewis. 

For her daughter, long and loudly 
Wailed and wept the sad Nokomis; 
** that I were dead! " she murmured, 60 

"• that I were dead, as thou art! 
No more work, and no more weeping, 
Wahonowin ! Wahonowin ! " ^ 

By the shores of Gitche Gumee, 
By the shining Big-Sea- Water,' 65 

Stood the wigwam of Nokomis, 
Daughter of tlie Moon, Xokomis. 
Dark behind it rose the forest. 
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees. 
Rose the firs with cones upon them; 70 

Bright before it beat the water. 
Beat the clear and sunny water. 
Beat the shining Big-Sea- Water. 

There the wrinkled, old Nokomis 
Nursed the little Hiawatha, 75 

1 Hiawatha is born of a maiden and god, 3 Lake Superior is meant ; Hiawatha 

like the heroes and demigods of many other lived on the south shore of the lake ; you 

nations. may find the localities in the map on p, x. 

3 a cry of lamentation. As in i. 3, gitche means " great." 



22 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Eocked him iu his linden ' cradle^ 

Bedded soft in moss and rushes. 

Safely bound with reindeer^ sinews; 

Stilled his fretful wail by saying, 

" Hush ! the Xaked Bear will hear thee! " 80 

Lulled him into slumber, singing, 

^'Ewa-yea! my little owlet! 

Who is this, that lights the wigwam ? 

With his great eyes lights the wigwam ? 

Ewa-yea! my little owlet! " 85 

Many things Nokomis taught him 
Of the stars that shine in heaven; 
Showed him Ishkoodah, the comet, 
Ishkoodah, with fiery tresses; 

Showed the Death -Dance of the sjoirits," 90 

Warriors with their plumes and Avar-clubs, 
Flaring far away to northward 
In the frosty nights of Winter; 
Showed the broad, white road * in heaven, 
-JPathway of the ghosts, the shadows, 95 

Running straight across the heavens. 
Crowded with the ghosts, the shadows. 

At the door on summer evenings 
Sat the little Hiawatha; 

Heard the whispering of the pine-trees, 100 

Heard the lapping ^ of the water. 
Sounds of music, words of wonder; 
" Minne-wawa! " said the pine-trees, 
*' Mudway-aushka! " said the water. 

Saw ' the fire-fly, W^ah-wah-taysee, 105 

Flitting through the dusk of evening, 

J The linden is also called the basswood. 3 the Aurora Borealis. * the Milky Way. 

2 The true reindeer is not native to Amer- ^ h^q jjttje noise made by water on the 

ica. This may mean the caribou, or, per- shore. 

haps, what is called the "barren-ground <> Here, as in 11. 110, 117, 119, 127, the sub- 
reindeer." jcct is omitted. 



Hiawatha's childhood. 23 

With the twinkle of its candle 

Lighting up the brakes ^ and bushes. 

And he sang the song of children, 

Sang the song Nokomis taught him: 110 

" Wah-wah-taysee, little fire-fly. 

Little, flitting, white-fire insect, 

Little, dancing, white-fire creature. 

Light me with your little candle. 

Ere upon my bed I lay me, 115 

Ere in sleep I close my eyelids! " 

Saw the moon rise from the water 
Eippling, rounding from the water. 
Saw the flecks and shadows on it, 
Whispered, "What is that, Nokomis?" 120 

And the good Nokomis answered : 
" Once a warrior, very angry. 
Seized his grandmother, and threw her 
Up into the sky at midnight; 

Right against the moon he threw her; 125 

'Tis her body that you see there." ^ 

Saw the rainbow in the heaven. 
In the eastern sky, the rainbow. 
Whispered, " What is that, Nokomis ? '' 
And the good Nokomis answered : 130 

^*' 'Tis the heaven of flowers you see there; 
All the Avild-flowers of the forest. 
All the lilies of the prairie. 
When on earth they fade and perish. 
Blossom in that heaven above us.'^ 135 

When he heard the owls at midnight. 
Hooting, laughing in the forest, 
'' What is that ? ' ' he cried in terror; 

'large ferns; the word also means ^ -^^e say the i/an in the Moon, 
"clumps of bushes," which may be the ^ ^i^e comparison may remind one of 
Bense here. " Evangeline," 1. 352. 



^^ 



24 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

'' What is that," he said, " Nokomis? " 

And the good ISTokomis answered: 140 

^' That is but the owl and owlet, 

Talking in their native language. 

Talking, scolding at each other.'* 

Then the little Hiawatha 
Learned of every bird its language,' 145 

Learned their names and all their secrets. 
How they built their nests in Summer, 
Where they hid themselves in Winter, 
Talked with them whene'er he met them, 
Called them '' Hiawatha's Chickens." 150 

Of all beasts he learned the language. 
Learned their names and all their secrets, 
How the beavers built their lodges,'^ 
Where the squirrels hid their acorns, 
How the reindeer ran so swiftly, 155 

Why the rabbit was so timid. 
Talked with them whene'er he met them, 
Called them ^' Hiawatha's Brothers." 

Then lagoo,^ the great boaster, 
He the marvellous story-teller, 160 

He the traveller and the talker, 
He the friend of old Nokomis, 
Made a bow for Hiawatha; 
From a branch of ash he made it. 
From an oak-bough made the arrows, 165 

Tipped with flint, and wdnged with feathers, 
And the cord he made of deer-skin. 

Then he said to Hiawatha: 
" Go, my son, into the forest, 
Where the red deer herd together, 170 

1 The Indians know so mnch of the woods the language of birds, and beasts as well. 
and of woodland life that it is not strange 2 gee xvii. 38-160. 
that they think of their heroes as knowing ^ ggg ^i. 179-S25, especially the last lines. 



Hiawatha's childhood. 25 

Kill for us a famous roebuck, 
Kill for us a deer with antlers! " 

Forth into the forest straight way- 
All alone walked. HiaAvatha 

Proudl}', with his bow and arrows; 175 

And the birds sang round him, o'er him, 
'' Do not shoot us, Hiawatha! " 
Sang the robin, the OiDechee, 
Sang the bluebird, the Owaissa, 
'' Do not shoot us, Hiawatha! '* 180 

Up the oak-tree, close beside him. 
Sprang the squirrel, Adjidaiuno, 
In and out among the branches. 
Coughed and chattered from the oak-tree. 
Laughed, and said between his laughing, 185 

*' Do not shoot me, Hiawatha! " 

And the rabbit from his pathway 
Lea^oed aside, and at a distance 
Sat erect upon his haunches. 

Half in fear and half in frolic, 190 

Saying to the little hunter, 
" Do not shoot me, Hiawatha! '^ 

But he heeded not, nor heard them, 
For his thoughts were with the red deer ; 
On their tracks his ej^es were fastened, 195 

Leading downward to the river. 
To the ford across the river. 
And as one in slumber walked he. 

Hidden in the alder-bushes,' 
There he waited till the deer came, 200 

Till he saw two antlers lifted. 
Saw two eyes look from the thicket, 
Saw two nostrils point to windward. 
And a deer came down the pathway, 

' by the river. See Introduction, 1. 54. 



26 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Flecked with leafy light and shadow. 205 

And his heart within him fluttered. 

Trembled like the leaves above him. 

Like the birch-leaf palpitated. 

As the deer came down the pathway. 

Then, upon one knee uprising, 210 

Hiawatha aimed an arrow ; 
Scarce a twig moved with his motion^ 
Scarce a leaf was stirred or rustled. 
But the wary roebuck started. 

Stamped with all his hoofs together, 215 

Listened with one foot uplifted. 
Leaped as if to meet the arrow; 
Ah ! the singing, fatal arrow. 
Like a wasp it buzzed and stung him! 

Dead he lay there in the forest, 220 

By the ford across the river; 
Beat his timid heart no longer. 
But the he^'t of Hiawatha 
Throbbed and shouted and exulted. 
As he bore the red deer homeward, 225 

And lagoo and Xokomis 
Hailed his coming with applauses. 

From the red deer's hide Nokomis 
Made a cloak for Hiawatha, 

From the red deer's flesh Nokomis 230 

Made a banquet in his honor. 
All the village came and feasted. 
All the guests praised Hiawatha, 
Called him Strong-Heart, Soan-ge-taha! 
Called him Loon-Heart, Mahn-go-tayseeP 235 

1 See sv. 127. 



HIAWATHA AND MUD^EKEEWIS. 27 

IV. 

HIAWATHA A:N^D MUDJEKEEWIS.* 

Out of cliilclhood into manhood 

Now had grown my Hiawatha, 

Skilled in all the craft of hunters, 

Learned in all the lore of old men. 

In all youthful sports and pastimes, 5 

In all manly arts and labors. 

Swift of foot was Hiawatha; 
He could shoot an arrow from him. 
And run forward with such fleetness. 
That the arrow fell behind him ! 10 

Strong of arm was Hiawatha; 
He could shoot ten arrows upAvard, 
Shoot them with such strength and swiftness. 
That the tenth had left the bow-string 
Ere the first to earth had fallen ! 15 

He had mittens, Minjekahwun, 
Magic mittens made of deer-skin; 
When upon his hands he wore them. 
He could smite the rocks asunder. 
He could grind them into powder. 20 

He had moccasins enchanted. 
Magic moccasins of deer-skin; 
When he bound them round his ankles. 
When u2:)on his feet he tied them, 
At each stride a mile be measured! '^ 25 

Much he questioned old iS^okomis 
Of his father Mudjekeewis; 

1 This Indian tale of the combat between tare/' No. 26 of this series). The Indian 

father and son (" Algic Kesearches," i. story has the happier outcome. 
134) may be compared with the Persian 2 giich magic poweis are not uncommon 

tale of Sohrab and Rustum, as told by Mat- in myth and legend. These moccasins were 

thew Arnold (" Poems of Knightly Adven- the Indian seven-league boots. 



28 THE SOXG OF HIAWATHA. 

Learned from lier the fatal secret 

Of the beauty of his mother. 

Of the falsehood of his father; 30 

And his heart was hot within him. 

Like a living coal his heart was. 

Then he said to old Nokomis, 
^' I will go to Mudjekeewis, 

See how fares it with my father, 35 

At the doorways of the West- Wind, 
At the 2^ortals of the Sunset I " 

From his lodge went Hiawatlia, 
Dressed for travel, armed for hunting; 
Dressed in deer-skin shirt and leggings, 40 

Eichly wrought with quills and wampum; 
On his head his eagle-feathers, 
Eound bis waist his belt of wamjoum, 
In his hand his bow of ash-wood, 
Strung with sinews of tbe reindeer; 45 

In his quiver oaken arrows, 
Tipped with jasper, winged with feathers; 
With his mittens, Minjekahwun, 
With his moccasins enchanted. 

Warning said the old Nokomis, 50 

" Go not forth, Hiawatha! 
To the kingdom of the West- Wind, 
To the realms of Mudjekeewis, 
Lest he harm you with his magic, ^ 
Lest he kill you with his ciinniag! '' 55 

Bnt the fearless Iliawatba 
Heeded not her woman's warni ag; 
Forth he strode into tbe forest, 
At each stride a mile he measured; 
Lurid seemed the sky above him, 60 

Lurid seemed the earth beneath him, 

1 Magic, or medicine, as it was called, was one of the great powers of an Indian hero. 



HIAWATHA AND MUDJEKEEWIS. , 29 

Hot and close the air around liini, 

Filled with smoke and fiery vapors. 

As of burning woods and prairies. 

For his heart was hot within him, 65 

Like a living coal his heart was. 

So he journeyed westward, westward, 
Left the fleetest deer behind him. 
Left the antelope and bison; 

Crossed the rushing Esconaba/ 70 

Crossed the mighty Mississippi, 
Passed the Mountains of the Prairie,'' 
Passed the land of Crows and Foxes,'' 
Passed the dwellings of the Blackfeet,* 
Came unto the Eocky Mountains, 75 

To the kingdom of the West- Wind, 
Where upon the gusty summits 
Sat the ancient Mudjekeewis, 
Euler of the winds of heaven. 

Filled with awe was Hiawatha 80 

At the aspect of his father. 
On the air about him wildly 
Tossed and streamed his cloudy tresses. 
Gleamed like drifting snow his tresses. 
Glared like Ishkoodah, the comet, 85 

Like the star with fiery tresses. 

Filled with joy was Mudjekeewis 
When he looked on Hiawatha, 
Saw his youth rise n-p before him 
In the face of Hiawatha, 90 

Saw the beauty of Wenonah 
From the grave rise up before him. 

1 a river in the northern peninsula of course, a translation. The Crows lived 

Michigan, flowing into Lake Michigan. farther west. 

'^ See i. 1. 4 The Blackfeet now live in Montana ; a 

' See p. xii. The Foxes lived at this time considerable number live to the north of 

in what is now Wisconsin ; " foxes " is, of the United States. 



30 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

'' Welcome! " said lie, '' Hiawatlia, 
To the kingdom of tlie West-Wind! 
Long have I been waiting for you ! 95 

'^outh is lovely, age is lonely. 
Youth is fiery, age is frosty; 
You bring back the days departed. 
You bring back my youth of passion^ 
And the beautiful Wenonah! " 100 

Many days they talked together. 
Questioned, listened, waited, answered; 
Much the mighty Mudjekeewis 
Boasted of his ancient prowess. 

Of his perilous adventures, 105 

His indomitable courage. 
His invulnerable body. 

Patiently sat Hiawatha, 
Listening to his father's boasting; 
With a smile he sat and listened, 110 

Uttered neither threat nor menace, 
Neither word nor look betrayed him. 
But his heart was hot within him. 
Like a living coal his heart was. 

Then he said, " Mudjekeewis, 115 

Is there nothing that can harm you ? 
Nothing that you are afraid of ? " 
And the mighty MudjekecAvis, 
Grand and gracious in his boasting. 
Answered, saying, ^' There is nothing, 120 

Nothing but the black rock yonder. 
Nothing but the fatal Wawbeek! " 

And he looked at Hiawatha 
With a wise look and benignant. 
With a countenance paternal, 125 

Looked with pride upon the beauty 
Of his tall and graceful figure, 



HIAWATHA AND MUDJEKEEWIS. 31 

Saying, " my Hiawatha! 

Is there anything can harrn 3^ou ? 

Anything yon are afraid of?" 130 

Bnt the wary Hiawatha 
Paused awhile, as if uncertain. 
Held his peace, as if resolving. 
And then answered, " There is nothing, 
Nothing but the bulrush yonder, 135 

Nothing but the great Apukwa! " 

And as Mudjekeewis, rising, 
Stretched his hand to pluck the bulrush, 
Hiawatha cried in terror. 

Cried in well-dissembled terror, 140 

*^Kago! kago! * do "not touch it! " 
^' Ah, kaween! "^ said Mudjekeewis, 
" No indeed, I will not touch it! " 

Then they talked of other matters; 
First of Hiawatha's brothers, 145 

First of Wabun, of the East- Wind, 
Of the South- Wind, Shawondasee, 
Of the North, Kabibonokka; 
Then of Hiaw^atha's mother. 

Of the beautiful Weaonah, 150 

Of her birth upon the meadow. 
Of her death, as old Nokomis 
Had remembered and related. 

And he cried, " Mudjekeewis, 
It w^as you who killed Wenonah, 155 

Took her young life and her beauty, 
Broke the Lily of the Prairie,'' 
Trampled it beneath your footsteps; 
You confess it! you confess it! " 
And the mighty Mudjekeewis 160 

Tossed upon the wdnd his tresses, 

» Do not— do not. 2 ]sfo, indeed. » gee iii. 20, 27, 37, 46. 



82 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Bowed his hoary head in anguish^ 
With a silent nod assented. 

Then up started Hiawatha, 
And with threatening look and gesture 165 

Laid his hand npon the black rock. 
On the fatal Wawbeek laid it. 
With his mittens, Minjekahwnn, 
Eent the Jutting crag asunder. 

Smote and crushed it into fragments, 170 

Hurled them madly at his father. 
The remorseful Mudjekeewis, 
For his heart was hot within him. 
Like a living coal his heart was. 

But the ruler of the-West-Wind 175 

Blew the fragments backward from him. 
With the breathing of his nostrils. 
With the tempest of his anger, 
Blew them back at his assailant; 
Seized the bulrush, the Apukwa, 180 

Dragged it with its roots and fibres 
From the margin of the meadow. 
From its ooze, the giant bulrush; 
Long and loud laughed Hiawatha ! 

Then began the deadly conflict, 185 

Hand, to hand among the mountains; 
From his eyry ' screamed the eagle. 
The Keneu, the great war-eagle 
Sat upon the crags around them. 
Wheeling flapped his Avings above them. 190 

Like a tall tree in the tempest 
Bent and lashed the giant bulrush; 
And in masses huge and heavy 
Crashing fell the fatal Wawbeek; 
Till the earth shook with the tumult 195 

> the nest of an eagle. 



HIAWATHA AND MUDJEKEEWIS. do 

And confusion of the battle. 
And the air was full of shoutings. 
And the thunder of the mountains, 
Starting, answered, '' Baim-wawa! '^ * 

Back retreated Mudjekeewis, 200 

Rushing westward o'er the mountains. 
Stumbling westward down the mountains. 
Three whole days retreated fighting. 
Still pursued by Hiawatha 

To the doorways of the West- Wind, 205 

To the portals of the Sunset, 
To the earth's remotest border. 
Where into the empty spaces 
Sinks the sun, as a flamingo ^ 

Drops into her nest at nightfall, 210 

In the melancholy marshes. 

" Hold! " at length cried Mudjekeewis, 
"Hold, my son, my Hiawatha! 
'Tis impossible to kill me, 

Eor you cannot kill the immortal. 215 

I have put you to this trial. 
But to know and prove your courage; 
Now receive the prize of valor! 

"Go back to your home and people. 
Live among them, toil among them, 220 

Cleanse the earth from all that harms it. 
Clear the fishing-grounds and rivers. 
Slay all monsters and magicians. 
All the Wendigoes," the giants, 

All the serpents, the Kenabeeks," 225 

As I slew the Mishe-Mokwa, 
Slew the Great Bear of the mountains. 

1 See sv. 50. ^ the Ojibwa word for giants or evil mon- 

2 a long-legged water-bird, so called from sters who troubled the people. 
its brilliant, flaming color. * See Ls. 26 and xvi. 69. 

3 



34 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

" And at last when Death draws near yon, 
When the awful eyes of Pauguk * 
Glare upon you in the darkness, 230 

I will share my kingdom with you, 
Euler shall you he thenceforward 
Of the Northwest- Wind, Keewaydin, 
Of the home- wind, ^ the Keewaydin/' 

Thus was fought that famous battle 235 

In the dreadful days of Shah-shah,^ 
In the days long since departed, 
In the kingdom of the West-Wind. 
Still the hunter sees its traces 

Scattered far o'er hill and valley; 240 

Sees the giant bulrush growing 
By the ponds and water-courses. 
Sees the masses of the Wawbeek 
Lying still in every valley. 

Homeward now went Hiawatha; 245 

Pleasant was the landscape round him. 
Pleasant was the air above him. 
For the bitterness of anger 
Had departed wholly from him, 
Prom his brain the thought of vengeance, 250 

From his heart the burning fever. 

Only once his pace he slackened. 
Only once he paused or halted. 
Paused to purchase heads of arrows 
Of the ancient Arrow-maker, 255 

In the land of the Dacotahs,* 
Where the Falls of Minnehaha ' 
Flash and gleam among the oak-trees. 
Laugh and leap into the valley. 

1 See XX. 106-109. * See p. sii. 

2 See xxii. 243. ^ in the Mississippi between the present 

3 of long ago. cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. 



HIAWATHA AND MUDJEKEEWIS. 35 

There the ancient Arrow-maker 260 

■ Made his arrow-heads of sandstone. 
Arrow-heads of chalcedony/ 
Arrow-heads of flint and jasper. 
Smoothed and sharpened at the edges. 
Hard and polished, keen and costly. 265 

With him dwelt his dark-eyed daughter, 
AVayward as the Minnehaha, 
With her moods of shade and sunshine. 
Eyes that smiled and frowned alternate. 
Feet as rapid as the river, 270 

Tresses flowing like the water. 
And as musical a laughter; 
And he named her from the river, 
From the water-fall he named her, 
Minnehaha, Laughing Water. 275 

AVas it then for heads of arrows. 
Arrow-heads of chalcedony, 
• Arrow-heads of flint and jasper. 
That my Hiawatha halted 
In the land of the Dacotahs ? 280 

Was it not to see the maiden. 
See the face of Laughing Water 
Peeping from behind the curtain. 
Hear the rustling of her garments 
From behind the waving curtain, 285 

As one sees the Minnehaha 
Gleaming, glancing through the branches. 
As one hears the Laughing Water 
From behind its screen of branches ? 

Who shall say what thoughts and visions 290 

Fill the fiery brains of young men ? 
Who shall say what dreams of beauty 

1 The name is given to a Icind of quartz ; according to its color and structure it is 
called agate, carnelian, onyx, etc. 



36 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Filled the lieart of Hiawatha ? 

All he told to old Nokomis, 

When he reached the lodge at sunset, 295 

Was tlie meeting with his father. 

Was his fight with Mudjekeewis; 

Not a word he said of arrows, 

Not a word of Laughing Water! 



V. 

HIAWATHA^S FASTIKG. 

You shall hear how Hiawatha 

Prayed and fasted in the forest, 

Not for greater skill in hunting. 

Not for greater craft in fishing. 

Not for triumphs in the battle, 5 

And renown among the warriors. 

But for profit of the people, 

For advantage of the nations. 

First he built a lodge for fasting,* 
Built a wigwam in the forest, 10 

By the shining Big-Sea- Water, 
In the blithe and pleasant Spring-time, 
In the Moon of Leaves " he built it. 
And, with dreams and visions many. 
Seven whole days and nights he fasted. 15 

On the first day of his fasting 
Through the leafy woods he wandered ; 
Saw the deer start from the thicket. 
Saw the rabbit in his burrow, 

1 Almost all savage peoples, and not a few men or warriors in full standing. Tiie 
civilized peoples, offer great tests or trials to Indian brave blackened his face and f aated. 
their young men before they are received as 2 jvjay. 



HIAWATHA S FASTING. 37 

Heard the pheasant, Bena, drumming/ 30 

Heard the squirrel, Adjidaumo, 
Rattling in his hoard of acorns, 
. Saw the pigeon, the Omeme, 
Building nests among the pine-trees. 
And in flocks tlie wild goose, Wawa, 25 

Elying to the fen-lands northward. 
Whirring, Availing far above him. 
" Master of Life! " he cried, desponding, 
" Must our lives depend on these things ? " " 

On the next day of his fasting 30 

By the river's brink he wandered, 
Through the Muskoday, the meadow. 
Saw the wild rice, Mahnomonee, 
Saw the blueberry, Meenahga, 

And the strawberry, Odahmin, 35 

And the gooseberry, Shahbomin, 
And the grape-vine, the Bemahgut, 
Trailing o'er tlie alder-branches, 
Filling all the air with fragrance ! 
" Master of Life! " he cried, desponding, 40 

*^ Must our lives depend on these things ? " 

On the third day of his fasting 
By the lake he sat and pondered. 
By the still, transparent water; 

Saw the sturgeon, ISTahma, leaping, 45 

Scattering drops like beads of wampum. 
Saw the yellow perch, the Sahwa, 
Like a sunbeam in the water, 
Saw the pike, the Maskenozha, 

And the herring, Okahahwis, 50 

And the Shawgashee, the craw-fish! 

> The pheasant, as well as some other man depends on what he can find in woods 

birds, makes a noise with his wings that is and water, is more precarious than the 

called drumming. farmer-stage, in which the earth returns its 

2 The hunter-stage of civilization, in which various crops in due season. 



38 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

"Master of Life! " he cried, desponding, 
" Must our lives depend on these things? " 

On the fourth day of his fasting 
In his lodge he lay exhausted; 55 

From his coQch of leaves and branches 
Gazing with half -open eyelids. 
Fall of shadowy dreams and visions. 
On the dizzy, swimming landscape. 
On the gleaming of the water, 60 

On the splendor of the sunset. 

And he saw a youth approaching. 
Dressed in garments green and yellow. 
Coming through the purple twilight. 
Through the splendor of the sunset; 65 

Plumes of green bent o'er his forehead. 
And his hair was soft and golden. 

Standing at the open doorway. 
Long he looked at Hiawatha, 

Looked with pity and compassion 70 

On his wasted form and features. 
And, in accents like the sighing 
Of the South-Wind in the tree-tops. 
Said he, " my Hiawatha! 

All your prayers are heard in heaven, 75 

For you pray not like the others, 
Not for greater skill in hunting, 
Not for greater craft in fishing, 
Not for triumj)h in the battle. 

Nor renown among the warriors, 80 

But for profit of the people. 
For advantage of the nations. 

'^ From the Master of Life descending, 
I, the friend of man, Mondamin,^ 
Come to warn you and instruct you, 85 

1 See V. 271, 274. 



Hiawatha's fasting. 39 

How by struggle and by labor 
You shall gain what you have prayed for. 
■Rise up from your bed of branches. 
Else, youth, and wrestle with me! " 

Faint with famine, Hiawatha 90 

Started from his bed of branches, 
Erom the twilight of his wigwam 
Forth into the flush of sunset 
Came and wrestled with Mondamin; 
At his touch he felt new courage 95 

Throbbing in his brain and bosom. 
Felt new life and hope and vigor 
Run through every nerve and fibre. 

So they wrestled there together 
In the glory of the sunset, 100 

And the more they strove and struggled, 
Stronger still grew Hiawatha; 
Till the darkness fell around them. 
And the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, 
From her nest among the pine-trees, 105 

Gave a cry of lamentation. 
Gave a scream of pain and famine. 

*' 'Tis enough! " then said Mondamin, 
Smiling upon Hiawatha, 

" But to-morrow, when the sun sets, 110 

I will come again to try you." 
And he vanished, and was seen not; 
Whether sinking as the rain sinks. 
Whether rising as the mists rise, 
Hiawatha saw not, knew not, 115 

Only saw that he had vanished. 
Leaving him alone and fainting. 
With the misty lake below him. 
And the reeling stars above him. 

On the morrow and the next day, 120 



40 THE SO^G OF HIAWATHA. 

When the sun through heaven descending, 
Like a red and burning cinder 
Erom the iiearth of the Great Spirit, 
Fell into the AYcstern waters, 

Car.ie Mondamin for the trial, 125 

For the strife with Hiawatha; 
/'Came as silent as the dew comes, 
From the em^^t}^ air appearing. 
Into empty air returning, 

Taking shape when earth it touches, 130 

But invisible to all men 
In its coming and its going-^ 

Thrice they wrestled there together 
In the glory of the sunset, 

Till the darkness fell around them, 135 

Till the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, 
From her nest among the pine-trees. 
Uttered her loud cry of famine. 
And Mondamin paused to listen. 

Tall and beautiful lie stood there, 140 

In his garments green and yellow; 
To and fro his plumes above him 
Waved and nodded with his breathing. 
And the sweat of the encounter 
Stood like drops of dew upon him. 145 

And he cried, " Hiawatha! 
Bjavely have you wrestled with me, 
Thrice have Avrestled stoutly with me. 
And the Master of Life who sees ns. 
He will give to you the triumph! " 150 

Then he smiled and said: " To-morrow 
Is the last day of your conflict. 
Is the last day of your fasting. 
You will conquer and o'ercome me; 
Make a bed for me to lie in, 155 



Hiawatha's fasting. 41 

Where the rain may fall upon me, 

Where the sun may come and warm me; 

Strip these garments, green and yellow. 

Strip this nodding plumage from me. 

Lay me in the earth, and make it . 160 

Soft and loose and light above me. 

" Let no hand disturb my slumber. 
Let no weed nor worm molest me. 
Let not Kahgaligee, the raven. 

Come to haunt me and molest me, 165 

Only come yourself to watch me, 
Till I wake, and start, and quicken,' 
Till I leap into the sunshine." 

And thus saying, he departed. 
Peacefully slept Hiawatha, 170 

But he heard the Wawonaissa, 
Heard the whippoorwill complaining. 
Perched upon his lonely wigwam; 
Heard the rushing Sebowisha, 

Heard the rivulet rippling near him, 175 

Talking to the darksome forest; 
Heard the sighing of the branches. 
As they lifted and subsided 
At the passing of the night- wind. 
Heard them, as one hears in slumber 180 

Far-off murmurs, dreamy whispers: 
Peacefully slej3t Hiawatha. 

On the morrow came Nokomis, 
On the seventh day of his fasting. 
Came with food for Hiawatha, 185 

Came imploring and bewailing, 
Lest his hunger should o'ercome him. 
Lest his fasting should be fatal. 

But he tasted not, and touched not, 

1 come into life. 



42 THE SONG OF . HIAWATHA. 

Only said to her, " ^okomis, 190 

Wait until the sun is setting, 

Till the darkness falls around us. 

Till the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, 

Crying from the desolate marshes. 

Tells us that the day is ended." 195 

Homeward weeping went Nokomis, 
Sorrowing for her Hiawatha, 
Fearing lest his strength should fail him. 
Lest his fasting should be fatal. 

He meanwhile sat weary waiting 200 

For the coming of Mondamin, 
Till the shadows, pointing eastward. 
Lengthened over field and forest. 
Till the sun dropped from the heaven, 
^ Floating on the waters westward, 205 

As a red leaf in the Autumn 
Falls and floats upon the water. 
Falls and sinks into its bosom. - 

And behold ! the young Mondamin, 
With his soft and shining tresses, 210. 

With his garments green and yellow. 
With his long and glossy plumage. 
Stood and beckoned at the doorway. 
And as one in slumber Avalking, 

Pale and haggard, but undaunted, 215 

From the wigwam Hiawatha 
Came and wrestled with Mondamin. 

Round about him sjoun the landscape. 
Sky and forest reeled together, 

And liis strong heart leaped within him, 220 

As the sturgeon leaps and struggles 
In a net to break its meshes. 
Like a ring of fire around him 
Blazed and flared the red horizon. 



Hiawatha's fasting. 48 

And a hundred suns seemed looking 225 

At the combat of the wrestlers. 

Suddenly upon the greensward 
All alone stood Hiawatha, 
Panting with his wild exertion. 

Palpitating with the struggle; 230 

And before him, breathless, lifeless. 
Lay the youth, with hair dishevelled. 
Plumage torn, and garments tattered. 
Dead he lay there in the sunset. 

And victorious Hiawatha 235 

Made the grave as he commanded. 
Stripped the garments from Mondamin, 
Stripped his tattered plumage from him, 
Laid him in the earth, and made ifc 
Soft and loose and light above him; 240 

And the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, 
From the melancholy moorlands. 
Gave a cry of lamentation, 
Gave a cry of pain and anguish! 

Homeward then went Hiawatha 245 

To the lodge of old ^N'okomis, 
And the seven days of his fasting 
Were accomplished and completed. 
But the place was not forgotten 

Where he wrestled with Mondamin; 250 

Nor forgotten nor neglected 
Was the grave where lay Mondamin, 
Sleeping in the rain and sunshine. 
Where his scattered plames and garments 
Faded in the rain and sunshine. 255 

Day by day did Hiawatha 
Go to wait and watch beside it; 
Kept the dark mould ' soft above it, 

1 earth fit for planting. 



44 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Kept it clean from weeds and insects, 

Drove away, wibli scoffs and shoutings, 260 

Kahgaligee, the king of ravens. 

Till at length a small green feather 
From the earth shot slowly upward. 
Then another and another, 

And before the Summer ended 265 

Stood the maize ' in all its beauty. 
With its shining robes abont it, 
And its long, soft, yellow tresses; 
And in raptnre Hiawatha 

Cried aloud, " It is Mondamin! 270 

Yes, the friend of man, Mondamin! " 

Then he called to old Nokomis 
And lagoo, the great boaster. 
Showed them where the maize was growing. 
Told them of his wondrous vision, 275 

Of his wrestling and his triumph, 
Of this new gift to the nations. 
Which should be their food forever. 

And still later, when the Autumn 
Changed the long, green leaves to yellow, 280 

And the soft and juicy kernels 
Grew like wampum hard and yellow. 
Then the ripened ears he gathered. 
Stripped the withered husks from off them. 
As he once had stripped the wrestler, 285 

Gave the first Feast of Mondamin, 
And made known unto the people 
This new gift of the Great Spirit. 

i the specific name for ludiau corn. 



Hiawatha's friends. 45 



VI. 

Hiawatha's friends. 

Two good friends had Hiawatha, 

Singled out from all the others. 

Bound to him in closest union, 

And to whom he gave the right hand 

Of his heart, in joy and sorrow; 5 

Chibiabos, the musician, 

And the very strong man, Kwasind. 

Straight between them ran the pathway, 
Never grew the grass upon it; ' 

Singing birds, that utter falsehoods, 10 

Story-tellers, mischief-makers. 
Found no eager ear to listen. 
Could not breed ill-will between them, 
For they kept each other's counsel. 
Spake with naked hearts together, 15 

Pondering much and much contriving 
How the tribes of men might prosper. 

Most beloved by Hiawatha 
Was the gentle Chibiabos, 

He the best of all musicians, 20 

He the sweetest of all singers. 
Beautiful and childlike was he. 
Brave as man is, soft as woman. 
Pliant as a wand of willow. 
Stately as a deer with antlers. 25 

When he sang, the village listened; 
All the warriors gathered round him. 
All the women came to hear him; 

This is the figurative w<ay of saying that their intercourse was direct and constant. 



46 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Now lie stirred their souls to passion, 

Now he melted them to pity. 30 

From the hollow reeds he fashioned 
Flutes so musical and mellow, 
That the brook, the Sebowisha, 
Ceased to murmur in the woodland. 
That the wood-birds ceased from singing, 35 

And the squirrel, Adjidaumo, 
Ceased his chatter in the oak-tree. 
And tlie rabbit, the Wabasso, 
Sat upright to look and listen. 

Yes, the brook, the Sebowisha, 40 

Pausing, said, " Chibiabos, 
Teach my waves to flow in music. 
Softly as your words in singing! " 

Yes, the bluebird, the Owaissa, 
Envious, said, " Chibiabos, 45 

Teach me tones as wild and wayward. 
Teach me songs as full of frenzy! " 

Yes, the robin, the Ojiechee, 
Joyous, said, "0 Chibiabos, 

Teach me tones as sweet and tender, 50 

Teach me songs as fall of gladness! " 

And the whippoorwill, Wawonaissa, 
Sobbing, said, " Chibiabos, 
Teach me tones as melanchol}^ 
Teach me songs as full of sadness! " 55 

All the many sounds of nature 
Borrowed sweetness from his singing; 
All the hearts of men were softened 
By the pathos of his music; 

For he sang of peace and freedom, 60 

Sang of beauty, love, and longing; 
Sang of death, and life undying 
In the Islands of the Blessed, 



HIAWATHA'S FRIENDS. 47 

In the kingdom of Ponemali/ 
. In the land of the Hereafter. 65 

Very dear to Hiawatha 
"Was the gentle Chibiabos, 
He the best of all musicians. 
He the sweetest of all singers; 

For his gentleness he loved him, 70 

And the magic of his singing. 

Dear, too, unto Hiawatha 
Was the very strong man, Kwasind, 
He the strongest of all mortals, 

He the mightiest among many; 75 

Eor his very strength he loved him. 
For his strength allied to goodness. 

Idle in his youth was Kwasind, 
Very listless, dull, and dreamy. 

Never played with other children, 80 

Never fished and never hunted. 
Not like other children was he; 
But they saw that much he fasted. 
Much his Manito* entreated. 
Much besought his G-uardian Spirit. 85 

'^ Lazy Kwasind! " said his mother, 
" In my work you never help me! ^ 
In the Summer you are roaming 
Idly in the fields and forests; 

In the Winter you are cowering 90 

O'er the firebrands in the wigwam! 
In the coldest days of Winter 
I must break the ice for fishing; 
With my nets you never help mef 

1 See xxii. 239-247. * It was the part of the Indian squaws to 

2 Every Indian liad a special Manito or do the work about the house and fields, 
guardian spirit who cared for him, as Gitche helped, of course, by the children. The 
Manito, or the Great Spirit, cared for the men felt that it was quite enough for them 
whole race. to fight, hunt, and fish. 



48 THE SOXG OF HIAWATHA. 

At the door my nets are hanging, 95 

Dripping, freezing with the water; 
Go and wriag them, Yenadizze! ' 
Go and dry them in the sunshine! " 

Slowly, from the ashes, Kwasind 
Eose, but made no angry answer; 100 

From the lodge went forth in silence. 
Took the nets, that hung together. 
Dripping, freezing at the doorway. 
Like a wisp of straw he wrung them. 
Like a wisp of straw he broke them, 105 

Could not wring them without breaking. 
Such the strength was in his fingers. 

" Lazy Kwasind! " said his father, 
*' In the hunt you never help me; 
Every bow you touch is broken, 110 

Snapped asunder every arrow; 
Yet come with me to the forest. 
You shall bring the hunting homeward." 

Down a narrow pass they wandered. 
Where a brooklet led them onward, 115 

Where the trail of deer aud bison 
Marked the soft mud on the margin. 
Till they found all further passage 
Shut against them, barred securely 
By the trunks of trees ujDrooted, 120 

Lying lengthwise, lying crosswise. 
And forbidding further passage. 

'^ We must go back," said the old man, 
" O'er these logs we cannot clamber; 
Not a woodchuck could get through them, 125 

ISTot a squirrel clamber o'er them! " 
And straightway his pipe he lighted. 
And sat down to smoke and ponder. 

1 worthless fellow. Seexi. 56. 



HIAWATHA'S FRIENDS. 49 

But before his pipe was finished, 

Lo! the path Avas cleared before him; 130 

All the trunks had Kwasind lifted. 

To the right hand, to the left hand. 

Shot the pine-trees swift as arrows. 

Hurled the cedars li^ht as lances. 

" Lazy Kwasind! " said the young men, 135 

As they sported in the meadow; 
" Why stand idly looking at us. 
Leaning on the rock behind you ? 
Come and wrestle Avith the others. 
Let us pitch the quoit together! " 140 

Lazy Kwasind made no answer. 
To their challenge made no answer. 
Only rose, and, slowly turning. 
Seized the huge rock in his fingers. 
Tore it from its deep foundation, 145 

Poised it in the air a moment. 
Pitched it sheer iuto the river, 
Sheer into the swift Pauwating,^ 
Where it still is seen in Summer. 

Once as down that foaming river, 150 

Down the rapids of Pauwating, 
Kwasind sailed with his companions. 
In the stream he saw a beaver. 
Saw Ahmeek, the King of Beavers, 
Struggling with the rushing currents, 155 

Elsing, sinking in the water. 

Without speaking, without pausing, 
Kwasind leaped into the river, 
Plunged beneath the bubbling surface. 
Through the whirlpools chased the beaver, 160 

Followed him among the islands, 

1 The name means ''place of shallow cataract"'; it is now named the Sault St. 
Marie. 

4 



50 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Stayed so long beneath the water. 

That his terrified companions 

Cried, "Alas! good by to Kwasind! 

We shall never more see Kwasind! " 165 

But he reap2)eared triumphant, 

And upon his shining shoulders 

Brought the beaver, dead and dripping, 

Brought the King of all the Beavers. 

And these two, as I have told you, 170 

AVere the friends of Hiawatha, 
Chibiabos, the musician. 
And the very strong man, Kwasind. 
Long they lived in peace together. 
Spake with naked hearts ^ together, 17o 

Pondering much and much contriving 
How the tribes of men might prosper.. 



vn. 

Hiawatha's sailing. 

'' Give me of your bark, Birch-Tree! 

Of your yellow bark, Birch-Tree! 

Growing by the rushing river. 

Tall and stately in the valley ! 

I a light canoe will build me, o 

Build a swift Cheemaun for sailing. 

That shall float upon tlie river, 

Like a yellow leaf in Autumn, 

Like a yellow water-lily! 

" Lay aside your cloak, Birch-Tree! 10 

Lay aside your white-skin wrapper. 
For the Summer-time is coming, 

1 without veil ; openly. 



Hiawatha's sailing. 51 

And the sun is warm in heaven. 

And you need no white-skin wrapper! " 

Thus aloud cried Hiawatha 15 

In the solitary forest. 
By the rushing Taquamenaw ' 
When the birds were singing gayly. 
In the Moon of Leaves ^ were singing. 
And the suu, from sleep awaking, 20 

Started up and said, '' Behold me! 
Geezis, the great Sun, behold me! " 

And the tree with all its branches 
Rustled in the breeze of morning, 
Saying, with a sigh of patience, 25 

" Take my cloak, Hiawatha J " 

With his knife the tree he girdled; ' 
Just beneath its lowest branches, . 

Just above the roots, he cut it. 

Till the sap came oozing outward; 30 

Down the trunk, from top to bottom. 
Sheer he cleft the bark asunder. 
With a wooden wedge he raised it, 
Stripped it from the trunk unbroken. 

" Give me of your boughs, Cedar! 35 

Of your strong and pliant branches. 
My canoe to make more stead}-. 
Make more strong and firm beneath me! " 

Through the summit of the Cedar 
Went a sound, a cry of horror, 40 

Went a murmur of resistance; 
But it whispered, bending downward, 
" Take my boughs, Hiawatha! " 

Down he hewed the boughs of cedar. 



1 a river of northern Michigan running 2 gee ii. 177 and v. 20. 
into Lake Superior not very far from the ^ cut a line all about it. 
Sault St. Marie. See p. x. 



52 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Shaped them straiglitway to a framework, 45 

Like two bows he formed and shaped them. 
Like two bended bows together. 

'^ Give me of your roots, Tamarack! 
Of your fibrous roots, Larch-Tree! 
My canoe to bind together, 50 

So to bind the ends together 
That the water may not enter. 
That the river may not wet me! " 

And the Larch, with all its fibres. 
Shivered in the air of morning, 55 

Touched his forehead with its tassels. 
Said, with one long sigh of sorrow, 
" Take them all, Hiawatha! " 

From the earth he tore the fibres. 
Tore the tough roots of the Larch-Tree, 60 

Closely sewed the bark together. 
Bound it closely to the framework. 

" Give me of your balm, Fir-Tree! 
Of your balsam ^ and your resin, 
So to close the seams together 65 

That the water may not enter. 
That the river may not wet me! " 

And the Fir-Tree, tall and sombre. 
Sobbed through all its robes of darkness. 
Rattled like a shore witli pebbles/ 70 

Answered wailing, answered weeping, 
'' Take my balm, Hiawatha! " 

And he took the tears of balsam, 
Took the resin of the Fir-Tree, 

Smeared therewith each seam and fissure, 75 

Made each crevice safe from water. 

" Give me of your quills, Hedgehog! 

^ Balm and balsam are practically the " wlien the \vave slips back into The ocoun, 
same word. as in "Evangeline," 1. 583. 



Hiawatha's sailing. 53 

All your quills, Kagli, the Hedgehog! 

I will make a necklace of them. 

Make a girdle for my beauty, 80 

And two stars to deck her bosom! " 

From a hollow tree the Hedgehog 
AVith his sleepy eyes looked at him, 
Shot his shining quills/ like arrows. 
Saying, with a drowsy murmur, 85 

Through the taugle of his whiskers, 
" Take my quills, Hiawatha! " 

From the ground the quills he gathered, 
All the little shining arrows. 

Stained them red and blue and yellow, 90 

With the juice of roots and berries; 
Into his canoe he wrought them. 
Bound its waist a shining girdle. 
Round its bows a gleaming necklace. 
On its breast two stars resplendent. 95 

Thus the Birch Canoe was builded 
In the valley, by the river. 
In the bosom of the forest; 
And the forest's life was in it. 

All its mystery and its magic, 100 

All the lightness of the birch-tree, 
All the toughness of the cedar. 
All the larch's supple sinews; 
And it floated on the river 

Like a yellow leaf in Autumn, 105 

Like a yellow water-lily. 

Paddles none had Hiawatha,' 
Paddles none he had or needed. 
For his thoughts as paddles served him, 

1 The porcupine is commonly (but wrong- ' Manabozho " travelled rapidly night and 

ly) supposed to have the power of shooting day, for he had only to will or speak, and 

his quills to a distance. The Indian canoes the canoe went." " Algic Researches," i. 

are often adorned by quill patterns. 156 ; and see is, 57, 61. 



54 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

And his wishes served to guide him; 
Swift or slow at will he glided. 
Veered to right or left at pleasure. 

Then he called aloud to Kwasind, 
To his friend, the strong man, Kwasind, 
Saying, *' Help me clear this river 
Of its sunken logs and sand-bars." 

Straight into the river Kwasind 
Plunged as if he were an otter. 
Dived as if he were a beaver. 
Stood up to his waist in water. 
To his arm-pits in the river, 
Swam and shouted in the river. 
Tugged at sunken logs and branches, 
"With his hands he scooped the sand-bars. 
With his feet the ooze and tangle. 

And thus sailed my Hiawatha 
Down the rushing Taquamenaw, 
Sailed through all its bends and windings, 
Sailed through all its deeps and shallows. 
While his friend, the strong man, Kwasind, 
Swam the deeps, the shallows waded. 

Up and down the river went they. 
In and out among its islands, 
Cleared its bed of root and sand-bar. 
Dragged the dead trees from its channel. 
Made its passage safe and certain. 
Made a pathway for the people,' 
From its springs among the mountains. 
To the waters of Pauwating, 
To the bay of Taquamenaw. 

1 A river is the easiest path to follow in rough and heavy forest country. 



Hiawatha's fishing. 65 

VIII. 

Hiawatha's fishikg. 

Forth upon the Gitche Gumee, 

On the shining Big- Sea- Water, 

With his fishing-line of cedar. 

Of the twisted bark of cedar, 

Forth to catch the sturgeon, Nahma, 5 

Mishe-Nahma,' King of Fishes, 

In his birch canoe exulting 

All alone went Hiawatha. 

Through the clear, transparent water 
He could see the fishes swimming 10 

Far down in the depths below him; 
See the yellow perch, the Sahwa, 
Like a sunbeam in the water. 
See the Shawgashee, the craw-fish. 
Like a spider on the bottom, 15 

On the white and sandy bottom. 

At the stern sat Hiawatha, 
With his fishing-line of cedar; 
In his plumes the breeze of morning 
Played as in the hemlock branches; 20 

On the bows, with tail erected. 
Sat the squirrel, Adjidaumo^; 
In his fur the breeze of morning 
Played as in the prairie grasses. 

On the white sand of the bottom 25 

Lay the monster Mishe-Nahma, 
Lay the sturgeon. King of Fishes; 
Through his gills he breathed the water. 

1 Nahnia is the word for "sturgeon."' 2 xhe name means "tail-in-air," as you 
Mishe, as in ii. 9, means "great." For will see later, I, 154. 
the name in "Algic Kesearches," see p. viii. 



56 THE SONG OP^ HIAWATHA. 

With his fins he fauned and winnowed.' 

With his tail he swept the sand-floor. 30 

There he lay in all his armor; 
On each side a shield to guard him, 
Plates of bone upon his forehead, 
Down his sides and back and shoulders 
Plates of bone with spines projecting, 35 

Painted was he with his war-paints. 
Stripes of yellow, red, and azure. 
Spots of brown and spots of sable; 
And he lay there on the bottom. 
Fanning with his fins of purple, ' 40 

As above him Hiawatha 
In his birch canoe came sailing. 
With his fishing-line of cedar. 

*^ Take my bait! " cried Hiawatha, 
Down into the depths beneath him, 45 

" Take my bait, Sturgeon, Nahma! 
Come up from below the water. 
Let us see which is the stronger! " 
And he dropped his line of cedar 
Through the clear, transparent water, 50 

Waited vainly for an answer. 
Long sat waiting for an answer. 
And repeating loud and louder, 
'' Take my bait, King of Fishes! " 

Quiet lay the sturgeon, Nahma, ^5 

Fanning slowly in the water. 
Looking up at Hiawatha, 
Listening to his call and clamor. 
His unnecessary tumult. 
Till he wearied of the shouting; 60 

5 The earliest winnowers were fans which fish near the bottom may be seen to stir the 
blew the light chaff away from the heavier sand about as you could stir scraps of paper 
grain. In like manner, the fins of a large on the floor with a fan. 



Hiawatha's p^ishing. 57 

And he said to the Keuozha, 
To the i^ike, the Maskenozha, 
" Take the bait of this rude fellow. 
Break the line of Hiawatha! " 

In his fingers Hiawatha 65 

Felt the loose line jerk and tighten; 
As he drew it in, it tugged so, 
That the birch canoe stood endwise. 
Like a birch log in the water, 

With the squirrel, Adjidaumo, 70 

Perched and frisking on the summit. 

Full of scorn was Hiawatha 
When he saw the fish rise upward. 
Saw the pike, the Maskenozha, 

Coming nearer, nearer to him, 75 

And he shouted through the water, 
''Esa! esa! shame upon you! 
You are but the pike, Kenozha, 
You are not tlie fish I wanted. 
You are not the King of Fishes! " 80 

Eeeling downward to the bottom 
Sank the pike in great confusion. 
And the miglity sturgeon, Xahma, 
Said to Ugudwash, the sun-fish, 

To the bream, ^ with scales of crimson, . 85 

" Take the bait of this great boaster, 
Break the line of Hiawatha! " 

Slowly upward, wavering, gleaming, 
Eose the Ugudwash, the sun-fish, 
Seized the line of Hiawatha, 90 

Swung with all his weight upon it, 
Made a whirlpool in the water, 
Whirled the birch canoo in circles, 
Eound and round in gurgling eddies, 

^ the English name, not very common in this country. 



58 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Till the circles in the water 95 

Eeached the far-off sandy beaches. 
Till the water-flags and rushes 
ISTodded on the distant margins. 

But when Hiawatha saw him 
Slowly rising through the water, 100 

Lifting up his disk refulgent/ 
Loud he shouted in derision, 
**Esa! esa! shame upon you ! 
You are Ugudwash, the sun-fish. 
You are not the fish I wanted, 105 

You are not the King of Fishes! " 

Slowly downward, wavering, gleaming. 
Sank the Ugudwash, the sun-fish. 
And again the sturgeon, Nahma, 
Heard the shout of Hiawatha^ 110 

Heard his challenge of defiance. 
The unnecessary tumult, 
Einging far across the water. 

From the white sand of the bottom 
Up he rose with angry gesture, 115 

Quivering in each nerve and fibre. 
Clashing all his plates of armor. 
Gleaming bright with all his war-paint; 
In his wrath he darted upward. 
Flashing leaped into the sunshine, 120 

Opened his great jaws, and swallowed 
Both canoe and Hiawatha. 

Down into that darksome cavern 
Plunged the headlong Hiawatha, 
As a log on some black river 125 

Shoots and plunges down the rapids. 
Found himself in utter darkness. 
Groped about in helpless wonder, 

1 shining. 



Hiawatha's fishing. 59 

Till he felt a great heart beating. 

Throbbing in that utter darkness. 130 

And he smote it in his anger. 
With his fist, the heart of Nahma, 
Pelt the mighty King of Fishes 
Shudder through each nerve and fibre. 
Heard the water gurgle round him 135 

As he leaped and staggered through it. 
Sick at heart, and faint and weary. 

Crosswise then did Hiawatha 
Drag his birch-canoe for safety. 

Lest from out the jaws of Nahma, 140 

In the turmoil and confusion, 
Forth he might be hurled and perish. 
And the squirrel, Adjidaumo, 
Frisked and chattered very gayly. 
Toiled and tugged with Hiawatha 145 

Till the labor was completed. 

Then said Hiawatha to him, 
''0 my little friend, the squirrel. 
Bravely have you toiled to help me; 
Take the thanks of Hiawatha, 150 

And tlie name which now he gives you; 
For hereafter and forever 
Boys shall call you Adjidaumo, 
Tail-in-air the bo3^s shall call you! " 

And again the sturgeon, Nalima, 155 

Gasped and quivered in the water. 
Then was still, and drifted landward 
Till he grated on the pebbles. 
Till the listening Hiawatha 

Heard him grate upon the margin, 160 

Felt him strand upon the pebbles. 
Knew that Nahma, King of Fishes, 
Lay there dead upon the margin. 



60 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Then be heard a clang and flapping. 
As of many wings assembling, 165 

Heard a screaming and confusion. 
As of birds of j^rey contending. 
Saw a gleam of light above him. 
Shining through the ribs of Nab ma. 
Saw the glittering eyes of sea-gulls, 170 

Of Kayoshk, the sea-gulls, peering. 
Gazing at him through the opening. 
Heard them saying to each other, 
*' 'Tis our brother, Hiawatha! " 

And he shouted from below them, 175 

Cried exulting from the caverns: 
*' ye sea-gulls! my brothers! 
I have slain the sturgeon, Nahma; 
Make the rifts a little larger, 

AVith your claws the openings widen, 180 

Set me free from this dark prison. 
And henceforward and forever 
Men shall speak of your achievements. 
Calling 3^ou Kayoshk, the sea-gulls. 
Yes, Kayoshk, the Noble Scratchers! " 185 

And the wild and clamorous sea-gulls 
Toiled with beak and claws together. 
Made the rifts and openings wider 
In the mighty ribs of Nahma, 

And from peril and from prison, 190 

From the body of the sturgeon, 
From the peril of the water. 
They released my Hiawatha. 

He was standing near his wigwam. 
On the margin of the water, 195 

And he called to old Nokomis, 
Called and beckoned to Nokomis, 
Pointed to the sturgeon, Nahma, 



Hiawatha's fishing. 61 

Lying lifeless on the pebbles. 

With the sea-gulls feeding on liim. 200 

^'I have slain the Mishe-Nabma, 
Slain the King of Fishes! " said he; 
" Look! the sea-gulls feed upon him, 
Yes, my friend Kayoshk, the sea-gulls. 
Drive them not away, Nokomis, 205 

They have saved me from great peril 
In the body of the sturgeon. 
Wait until their meal is ended, 
Till their craws are full Avith feasting. 
Till they homeward fly, at sunset, 210 

To their nests among the marshes; 
Then bring all your pots and kettles. 
And make oil for us in Winter." 

And she waited till the sun set. 
Till the pallid moon, the night-sun, 215 

Eose above the tranquil water. 
Till Kayoshk, the sated sea-gulls, 
Erom their banquet rose with clamor. 
And across the fiery sunset 

Winged their way to far-off islands, 220 

To their nests among the rushes. 

To his sleep went Hiawatha, 
And Nokomis to her labor. 
Toiling patient in the moonlight. 
Till the sun and moon changed places, 225 

Till the sky was red with sunrise. 
And Kayoshk, the hungry sea-gulls. 
Came back from the reedy islands. 
Clamorous for their morning banquet. 

Three whole days and niglits alternate 230 

Old Nokomis and the sea-gulls 
Stripped the oily iiesh of Nalima, 
Till the waves washed throusfh the rib-bones. 



62 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Till the sea-gLills came no longer. 

And upon the sands lay nothing 235 

But the skeleton of Nahma. 



IX. 

HIAWATHA AI^D THE PEARL-FEATHER. 

On the shores of Gitche Gumee, 

Of the shining Big-Sea- Water, 

Stood Nokoniis, the old woman, 

Pointing with her finger westward. 

O'er the water pointing westward, 5 

To the purple clouds of sunset. 

Fiercely the red sun descending 
Burned his way along the heavens. 
Set the sky on fire behind him, 

As war-parties, when retreating, 10 

Burn the prairies on their war-trail; 
And the moon, the night-sun, eastward. 
Suddenly starting from his ambush, 
Followed fast those bloody footprints. 
Followed in that fiery war-trail, 15 

With its glare upon his features. 

And Nokomis, the old woman. 
Pointing with her finger westward, 
Spake these words to Hiawatha: 
'' Yonder dwells the great Pearl-Feather, 20 

Megissogwon, the Magician, 
Manito' of Wealth and AVampum, 
Guarded by his fiery serpents, 
Guarded by the black pitch-water. 

' Maniio, as in vi. 84, is the name for evil power, like tiie wicked magician or en- 
spirit." Tlie Pearl-Feather was a mighty, chantress in European fairy tales. 



HIAWATHA AND THE PEARL-FEATHER. 63 

You can see his fiery serpents, 25 

The Keuabeek/ the great serpents. 

Coiling, playing in the water; 

You can see the black pitch-water'^ 

Stretching far away beyond them. 

To the purple clouds of sunset! 30 

" He it was who slew my father. 
By his wicked wiles and cunning. 
When he from the moon descended. 
When he came on earth to seek me. 
He, the mightiest of Magicians, 35 

Sends the fever from the marshes. 
Sends the pestilential vapors. 
Sends the jDoisonous exhalations. 
Sends the white fog from the fen-lands. 
Sends disease and death among us! 40 

" Take your bow, Hiawatha, 
Take your arrows, jasper-headed. 
Take your war-club, Pugamaugun, 
And your mittens, Minjekahwun, 
And your birch canoe for sailing, 45 

And the oil of Mishe-Nahma, 
So to smear its sides, that swiftly 
You may pass the black pitch- water; 
Slay this merciless magician. 

Save the peojole from the fever 50 

That he breathes across the fen-lands. 
And avenge my father's murder! " 

Straightway then my Hiawatha 
Armed himself with all his war-gear. 
Launched his birch canoe for sailing; 55 

With his palm its sides he patted, 
Said with glee, " Cheemaun, my darling, 
my Birch-Canoe! leap forward, 

» See iv. 225. 2 The " pitch-water " is described below, 11. 102-111. 



64 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Where yon see the fiery serpents. 

Where you see the black pitcli-water! " 60 

Forward leaped Cheemann exulting. 
And the noble Hiawatha 
Sang his war-song wild and woful. 
And above him the war-eagle, 

The Keneu, the great war-eagle, 65 

Master of all fowls with feathers. 
Screamed and hurtled through the heavens. 

Soon he reached the fiery serpents. 
The Kenabeek, the great serpents. 
Lying huge upon the water, 70 

Sparkling, rippling in the water. 
Lying coiled across the passage. 
With their blazing crests uplifted. 
Breathing fiery fogs and vaj)ors. 
So that none could pass beyond them, 75 

But the fearless Hiawatha 
Cried aloud, and spake in this wise: 
*' Let me pass my way, Kenabeek, 
Let me go upon my journey! " 

And they answered, hissing fiercely, 80 

With their fiery breath made answer: 
" Back, go back! O Shaugoda3"a! ' 
Back to old Nokomis, Faint-heart!" 

Then the angry Hiawatha 
Eaised his mighty bow of ash-tree, 85 

Seized his arrows, jasper-headed. 
Shot them fast among the serpents; 
Every twanging of the bow-string 
Was a war-cry and a death-cry. 

Every whizzing of an arrow 90 

Was a death-song of Kenabeek. 

Weltering in the bloody water, 

» See ii. 56. 



HIAWATHA AND THE PEARL-FEATHER. 65 

Dead lay all the fiery serpents, 

And among them Hiawatha 

Harmless sailed, and cried exulting: 95 

"Onward, Oheemaun, my darling! 

Onward to the black pitch-water! " 

Then he took the oil of ISlahma, 
And the bows and sides anointed, 
Smeared them well with oil, that swiftly 100 

He might joass the black pitch- water. 

All night long he sailed npon it. 
Sailed upon that sluggish water. 
Covered with its mould of ages. 

Black with rotting water-rushes, 105 

Rank with flags and leaves of lilies. 
Stagnant, lifeless, dreary, dismal. 
Lighted by the shimmering moonlight. 
And by will-o'-the-wisps illumined. 
Fires by hosts of dead men kindled, 110 

In their weary night-encampments/ 

All the air was white with moonlight. 
All the water black with shadow. 
And around him the Suggema, 

The mosquitos, sang their war-song, 115 

And the fire-flies, "Wah-wah-taysee, 
Waved their torches to mislead him; 
And the bull-frog, the Dahinda, 
Thrust his head into the moonlight. 
Fixed his yellow eyes upon him, 120 

Sobbed and sank beneath the surface; 
And anon a thousand whistles. 
Answered over all the fen-lands. 
And the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, 
Far off on the reedy margin, 125 

Heralded the hero's coming. 



60 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Westward thus fared Hiawatha, 
Toward the realm of Megissogwon, 
Toward the land of the Pearl-Feather, 
Till the level moon stared at him, 130. 

In his face stared pale and haggard. 
Till the sun was hot hehind him. 
Till it burned upon his shoulders, 
And before him on the upland 

He could see the Shining Wigwam 135 

Of the Manito of Wampnm, 
Of the mightiest of Magicians. 

Then once more Clieemaun he patted. 
To his birch-canoe said, " Onward! " 
And it stirred in all its fibres, 140 

And with one great bound of triumjDh 
Leajied across the water-lilies, 
Leaped through tangled flags and rushes. 
And upon the beach beyond them 
Dry-shod landed Hiawatha. 145 

Straight he took his bow of ash-tree, 
On the sand one end he rested, 
With his knee he pressed the middle. 
Stretched the faithful bow-string tighter, 
Took an arrow, jasper-headed, 150 

Shot it at the Shining AVigwam, 
Sent it singing as a herald. 
As a bearer of his message, 
Of his challenge loud and lofty: 
" Come forth from your lodge, Pearl-Feather! 155 
Hiawatha waits your coming! " 

Straightway from the Shining Wigwam 
Came the mighty Megissogwon, 
Tall of stature, broad of shoulder. 
Dark and terrible in aspect, 160 

Clad from head to foot in wampum. 



HIAWATHA AND THE PEARL-FEATHER. 67 

Armed with all Ins warlike weapons. 

Painted like the sky of morning. 

Streaked with crimson, blue and yellow. 

Crested with great eagle-feathers 165 

Streaming upward, streaming outward. 

" Well I know you, Hiawatha! " 
Cried he in a voice of thunder. 
In a tone of loud derision. 

'' Hasten back, Shaugodaya! 1*^0 

Hasten back among the women. 
Back to old Nokomis, Faint-heart! 
I will slay you as you stand there. 
As of old I slew her father! " 

But my Hiawatha answered, 175 

Nothing daunted, fearing nothing: 
" Big words do not smite like war-clubs. 
Boastful breath is not a bow-string. 
Taunts are not so sharp as arrows. 
Deeds are bettor things than Avords are, 180 

Actions mightier than boastings! " 

Then began the greatest battle 
That the sun had ever looked on. 
That the war-birds ever witnessed. 
All a Summer's day it lasted, 185 

From the sunrise to the sunset; 
For the si^fts of Hiawatha 
Harmless hit the shirt of wampum. 
Harmless fell the blows he dealt it 
With his mittens, Minjekahwun,' 190 

Harmless fell the heavy war-club; 
It could dash tlie rocks asunder. 
But it could not break the meshes 
Of that magic shirt of wampum. 

Till at sunset Hiawatha, 195 

1 See iv. 16. 



68 THE SONG OF HIAAVATHA. 

Leaning on his bow of asli-tree, 

Wounded, weary, and desponding, 

With his mighty war-club broken. 

With his mittens torn and tattered. 

And three useless arrows only, 200 

Paused to rest beneath a pine-tree, 

From whose branches trailed the mosses. 

And whose trunk was coated over 

With the Dead-man's Moccasin-leather, 

With the fungus white and yellow. 205 

Suddenly from the boughs above him 
Sang the Mama, the woodpecker: 
"Aim your arrows, Hiawatha, 
At the head of Megissogwou, 

Strike the tuft of hair upon it, 210 

At their roots the long black tresses ; 
There alone can he be wounded! " ^ 

Winged with feathers, tipped with jasper, 
Swift flew Hiawatha's arrow, 

Just as Megissogwon, stooping, 215 

Raised a heavy stone to throw it. 
Full upon the crown it struck him, 
At the roots of his long tresses. 
And he reeled and staggered forward. 
Plunging like a wounded bison, 220 

Yes, like Pezhekee, the bison, 
AVhen the snow is on the prairie. 

Swifter flew the seqond arrow. 
In the pathway of the other, 

Piercing deeper than the other, 225 

Wounding sorer than the other; 
And the knees of Megissogwon 
Shook like windy reeds beneath him. 
Bent and trembled like the rushes. 

1 So Kwasind was vulnerable only on the top of his head. See xviii. 102. 



HIAWATHA AND THE PEARL-FEATHER. 69 

But the third and latest arrow 230 

Swiftest flew, and wounded sorest. 
And the mighty Megissogwon 
Saw the fiery eyes of Pauguk,^ 
Saw tlie eyes of Death glare at him. 
Heard his voice call in the darkness; 235 

At the feet of Hiawatha 
Lifeless lay the great Pearl-Feather, 
Lay the mightiest of Magicians. 

Then the grateful Hiawatha 
Called the Mama, the woodpecker, 240 

From his perch among the branches 
Of the melancholy pine-tree. 
And, in honor of his service. 
Stained with blood the tuft of feathers 
On the little head of Mama; 245 

Even to this day he wears it, 
AVears the tuft of crimson feathers. 
As a symbol of his service. 

Then he stripped the shirt of wampum 
From the back of Megissogwon, 250 

As a trophy of the battle. 
As a signal of his conquest. 
On the shore he left the body. 
Half on land and half in water. 

In the sand his feet were buried, 255 

And his face was in the water. 
And above him, wheeled and clamored 
The Keneu, the great war-eagle. 
Sailing round in Jiar rower circles, 
Hovering nearer, nearer, nearer. 260 

From the wigwam Hiawatha 
Bore the wealth of Megissogwon, 
All his wealth of skins and wampum, 

1 See iv. 229. 



70 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Furs of bison and of beaver. 

Furs of sable and of ermine, 265 

Wampum belts and strings and pouches. 

Quivers wrought with beads of wampum. 

Filled with arrows, silver-headed. 

Homeward then he sailed exulting, 
Homeward through the black pitch -water, 270 

Homeward through the weltering serpents. 
With the trophies of the battle, 
With a shout and song of triumph. 

On the shore stood old Nokomis, 
On the shore stood Chibiabos, 275 

And the very strong man, Kwasind, 
Waiting for the hero's coming, 
Listening to his song of triumph. 
And the people of the village 

Welcomed him with songs and dances, 280 

Made a joyous feast, and shouted: 
" Honor be to Hiawatha! 
He has slain the great Pearl-Feather, 
Slain the mightiest of Magicians, 
Him, who sent the fiery fever, 285 

Sent the white fog from the fen-lands. 
Sent disease and death among us ! " 

Ever dear to Hiawatha 
Was the memory of Mama ! 

And in token of his friendshiiD, 290 

As a mark of his remembrance. 
He adorned and decked his pipe-stem 
With the crimson tuft of feathers, 
AV^ith the blood-red crest of Mama. 
But the wealth of Megissogwon, 295 

All the trophies of the battle. 
He divided with his people. 
Shared it equally among them. 



HIAWATHA'S WOOING. 71 

X. 

Hiawatha's avooing. 

" As nnto the bow the cord is. 

So nnto the man is woman. 

Though she bends him, she obeys him. 

Though she draws him, yet she follows. 

Useless each without the other! " 5 

Thus the youthful Hiawatha 
Said within himself and pondered. 
Much perplexed by various feelings. 
Listless, longing, hoping, fearing. 
Dreaming still of Minnehaha, 10 

Of the lovely Laughing AYater, 
In the land of the Dacotahs. 

" Wed a maiden of your people," * 
Warning said the old ]N"okomis; 

" Go not eastward, go not westward, 15 

For a stranger, whom we know not! 
Like a fire upon the hearth-stone , 

Is a neighbor's homely daughter. 
Like the starlight or the moonlight^ 
Is the handsomest of strangers! " 20 

Thus dissuading spake ^okomis. 
And my Hiawatha answered 
Only this: "• Dear old ¥okomis. 
Very pleasant is the firelight. 

But I like the starlight better, 25 

Better do I like the moonlight! " 

Gravely then said old ]N"okomis: 
" Bring not here an idle maiden, 

1 This is the common practice of savage 2 ^.^^ very charming, but not to be de- 
tribes, who are apt to regard all strangers pended upon for anything serious, 
as enemies. 



72 THE SOXG OF HIAWATHA. 

Bring not here a useless woman, 

Hands unskilful^, feet unwilling; 30 

Bring a wife witli nimble fingers. 

Heart and hand that move together. 

Feet that run on willing errands! " 

Smiling answered Hiawatha: 
" In the land of the Dacotahs 35 

Lives the Arrow- maker's daughter, 
Minnehaha, Laughing Water, 
Handsomest of all the women. 
I will bring her to your wigwam, 
She shall run upon your errands, 40 

Be your starlight, moonliglit, firelight. 
Be the sunlight of my peo2)le! " 

Still dissuading said Nokomis: 
*' Bring not to my lodge a stranger 
From the land of the Dacotahs! 45 

Very fierce are the Dacotahs, 
Often is there war between us. 
There are feuds yet unforgotten. 
Wounds that ache and still may open! " 
' Laughing answered Hiawatha: 50 

*' For that reason, if no other. 
Would I wed the fair Dacotah, 
That our tribes might be united, 
That old feuds might be forgotten. 
And old wounds be healed forever! " 55 

Thus departed Hiawatha 
To the land of the Dacotahs, 
To the land of handsome women; 
Striding over moor and meadow. 
Through interminable forests, 60 

Through uninterrupted silence. 

With his moccasins of magic, 
At each stride a mile he measured; 



Hiawatha's wooing. 78 

Yet the way seemed long before him,' 

And his heart outrun his footsteps; 65 

And he journeyed without resting, 

Till he heard the cataract's laughter,' 

Heard the Falls of Minnehaha 

Calling to him through the silence. 

"■ Pleasant is the sound! " he murmured, ^ 70 

*' Pleasant is the voice that calls me! " 

On the outskirts of the forest, 
'Twixt the shadow and the sunshine. 
Herds of fallow deer were feeding, 
But they saw not Hiawatha; 75 

To his bow he whispered, " Fail not! '' 
To his arrow whispered, '' Swerve not! '' 
Sent it singing on its errand. 
To the red heart of the roebuck; 
Threw the deer across his shoulder, 80 

And sped forward without pausing. 

At the doorway of his wigwam 
Sat the ancient Arrow-maker, 
In the land of the Dacotahs, 

Making arrow-heads of jasper, 85 

Arrow-heads of chalcedony. 
At his side, in all her beauty. 
Sat the lovely Minnehaha, 
Sat his daughter, Laughing Water, 
Plaiting mats of flags and rushes; 00 

Of the past the old man's thoughts were. 
And the maiden's of the future. 

He was thinking, as he sat there. 
Of the days when with such arrows 
He had struck the deer and bison, 95 

On the Muskoda}^ the meadow; 
Shot the wild goose, flying southward, 

I See below, 1. 227. ^ according to the meaning of its name. 



THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

On the wiug, tlie clamorous AA^awa; 

Thinking of the great war-parties. 

How they came to buy his arrows, 100 

Could not liglit without his arrows. 

Ah, no more such noble Avarriors 

Could be found on earth as they were! 

Now the men were all like women, 

Only used their tongues for weapons! 105 

She was thinking of a hunter. 
From another tribe and country. 
Young and tall and very handsome. 
Who one morning, in the Spring-time, 
Came to buy her father's arrows,^ 110 

Sat and rested in the wigwam. 
Lingered long about the doorway. 
Looking back as he departed. 
She had heard her father praise him. 
Praise his courage and his wisdom; 115 

Would he come again for arrows 
To the Falls of Minnehaha ? 
On the mat her hands Jay idle. 
And her eyes were very dreamy. 

Through their thoughts they heard a footstep, 120 
Heard a rustling in the branches. 
And with glowing cheek and forehead. 
With the deer upon his shoulders. 
Suddenly from out the woodlands 
Hiawatha stood before them. 135 

Straight the ancient Arrow-maker 
Looked up gravely from his labor. 
Laid aside the unfinished arrow. 
Bade him enter at the doorway. 
Saying, as he rose to meet bim, 130 

*' Hiawatha, you are welcome! " 

1 See iv. 264. 



Hiawatha's wooing. 75 

At the feet of Laughiag Water 
Hiawatha laid his burden. 
Threw the red deer from his shoulders; 
And the maiden looked np at him, 135 

Looked up from her mat of rushes, 
Said with gentle look and accent, 
'^ You are welcome, Hiawatha! " 

Very spacious was the wigwam, 
Made of deer-skin dressed and whitened, 140 

With the Gods of the Dacotahs 
Drawn and painted on its curtains. 
And so tall the doorway, hardly 
Hiawatha stooped to enter. 

Hardly touched his eagle-feathers 145 

As lie entered at the doorway. 

Then uprose the Laughing Water, 
From the ground fair Minnehaha, 
Laid aside her mat unfinished, 

Brought forth food and set before them, 150 

Water brought them from the brooklet. 
Gave them food in earthen vessels, 
Gave them drink in bowls of bass-wood,' 
Listened while the guest was speaking, 
Listened while her father answered, 155 

But not once her lips slie opened, 
Not a single word she uttered. 

Yes, as in a dream she listened 
To the words of Hiawatha, 

As he talked of old Nokomis, 160 

Who had nursed him in his childhood. 
As he told of his companions, 
Ohibiabos, the musician. 
And the very strong man, Kwasind, 
And of happiness and plenty 165 

1 the American linden, quite a common tree in tlie west and noticeable. 



76 THE SOXCt of HIAWATHA. 

In the land, of the Ojibways, 

In tlie pleasant land and peaceful. 

" After many years of warfare/ 
Many years of strife and bloodshed. 
There is peace between the Ojibways 170 

And the tribe of the Dacotahs." 
Thus continued Hiawatha, 
And then added, speaking slowly, 
" That this j^eace may last forever. 
And our hands be clasped more closely, 175 

And our hearts be more united. 
Give me as my wife this maiden, 
Minnehaha, Laughing Water, 
Loveliest of Dacotah women! " 

And the ancient Arrow-maker 180 

Paused a moment ere he answered. 
Smoked a little while in silence. 
Looked at Hiawatha proudly, 
Fondly looked at Laughing Water, 
And made answer very gravely : 185 

" Yes, if Minnehaha wishes; 
Let your heart s^^eak, Minnehaha! " 

And the lovely Laughing AYater 
Seemed more lovely, as she stood there, 
Neither willing nor reluctant, 190 

As she went to Hiawatha, 
Softly took the seat beside him. 
While she said, and blushed to say it, 
*' I will follow you, my husband! " 

This was Hiawatha's wooing! 195 

Thus it was he won the daughter 
Of the ancient Arrow-maker, 
In the land of the Dacotahs! 

1 The Dacotahs, or Sioux, were a warlike tribe and usually at war with their eastern 
neighbors. 



htawatha's wooing. 77 

From the wigwam he departed, 
Leading Avith him Laughing AVater; 200 

Hand in hand they went together. 
Through the woodland and the meadow. 
Left the okl man standing lonely 
At the doorway of his wigwam. 

Heard the Falls of Minnehaha 205 

Calling to them from the distance. 
Crying to them from afar off, 
" Fare thee well, jMinnehaha! " 

And the ancient Arrow-maker 
Turned again unto his labor, 210 

Sat down by his sunny doorway. 
Murmuring to himself, and saying: 
" Thus it is our daughters leave us. 
Those we love, and those who love us! 
Just when they have learned to help us, 215 

When we are old and lean upon them. 
Comes a youth with flaunting feathers. 
With his flute of reeds, a stranger 
Wanders piping through the village. 
Beckons to the fairest maiden, 220 

And she follows wdiere he leads her, 
Leaving all things for the stranger! " 

Pleasant w^as the journey homeward, 
Through interminable forests. 

Over meadow, over mountain, 225 

Over river, hill, and hollow. 
Short it seemed to Hiawatha, 
Though they journeyed very slowly. 
Though his pace he checked and slackened 
To the steps of Laughing Water. 230 

Over wide and rushing rivers 
In his arms he bore the maiden; 
Light he thought her as a feather. 



78 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

As the plume upon liis head-gear; 

Cleared the tangled pathway for her, 235 

Bent aside the swaying branches, 

Made at night a lodge of branches. 

And a bed with boughs of hemlock. 

And a lire before the doorway 

With the dry cones of the pine-tree. 240 

All tlie travelling winds went with them. 
O'er the meadow, through the forest: 
All the stars of night looked at them, 
Watched w^th sleepless eyes their slumber; 
Prom his ambush in the oak-tree 245 

Peeped the squirrel, Adjidaumo, 
Watched with eager eyes the lovers; 
And the rabbit, the Wabasso, 
Scampered from the path before them, 
Peering, peeping from his burrow, 250 

Sat erect upon his haunches. 
Watched with curious eyes the lovers. 

Pleasant was the journey homeward! 
All the birds sang loud and sweetly 
Songs of happiness and heart's-ease; 255 

Sang the bluebird, the Owaissa, 
*' Happy are you, Hiawatha, 
Having such a wife to love you! '' 
Sang the robin, the Opechee, 

*' Happy are you, Laughing AVater, 260 

Having such a noble husband! " 

From the slvy the sun benignant 
Looked upon them through the branches, 
Saying to them, " my children. 
Love is sunshine, hate is shadow, 265 

Life is checkered shade and sunshine, 
Eule by love, Hiawatha! " 

From the skv the moon looked at them, 



HIAWATHA'S WEDDINCx-FEAST. 



79 



Filled the lodge with mystic splendors. 

Whispered to them, " my children, 270 

Day is restless, night is quiet, 

Man imperious, Avoman feeble; 

Half is mine, although I follow; 

Eule by patience, Laughing Water! " 

Thus it was they journeyed homeward; 275 

Thus it was that Hiawatha 
To the lodge of old N'okomis 
Brought the moonlight, starlight, firelight, 
Brought the sunshine of his people, 
Minnehaha, Laughing Water, 280 

Handsomest of all the women 
In the land of the Daco talis, • 
In the land of handsome w^omen. 



XI. 

HIAWATHA'S WEDDING-FEAST. 

You shall hear how Pau-Puk-Keewis, 

How the handsome Yenadizze ' 

Danced at Hiawatha's wedding; 

How the gentle Chibiabos, 

He the sweetest of musicians, 5 

Sang his songs of love and longing; 

How lagoo, the great boaster. 

He the marvellous story-teller. 

Told his tales of strange adventure, 

That the feast might be more joyous, 10 

That the time might pass more gayly. 

And the guests be more contented. 

Sumptuous w^as the feast Nokomis 
Made at Hiawatha's wedding; 
All the bowls were made of bass-w^ood, 15 

1 See 11. 56, 69, and vi. 97. 



80 .. THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

White and polished yeiy smoothly.. 
All the spoons of horn of bison^ 
Black and polished very smoothly. 

She had sent through all the Tillage 
Messengers with wands of willow, 20 

As a sign of invitation^ 
As a token of the feasting; 
And the wedding guests assembled. 
Clad in all their richest raiment. 
Robes of fur and belts of wampum, 25 

Splendid with their paint and plumage. 
Beautiful with beads and tassels. 

First they ate the sturgeon, Nahma,* 
And the pike, the Maskenozha,' 
Caught and cooked by old Nokomis; 30 

Then on pemican ^ they feasted, 
Pemican and buffalo marrow. 
Haunch of deer and hump of bison. 
Yellow cakes of the Mondamin,* 
And the wild rice of the river. 35 

But the gracious Hiawatha, 
And the lovely Laughing Water, 
And the careful old Nokomis, 
Tasted not the food before them. 
Only waited on the others, 40 

Only served their guests in silence." 

And when all the guests had finished. 
Old Nokomis, brisk and busy. 
From an ample jDoueh of otter. 

Filled the red stone 2'>ipes for smoking 45 

With tobacco from the South-land, 
Mixed with bark of the red Avillovv,^ 
And with herbs and leaves of fragrance. 

1 See viii. 26 and followint^. « It was not proper for those who gave the 

2 dried buffalo meat pounded to a powder, feast to eat with their friends, 
s See V. 270. ^ See i. 23, 24. 



HIAWATHA'S WEDDING -FEAST. 81 

Then she said, " Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
Dance for us your merry dances, 50 

Dance the Beggar's Dance to please us. 
That the feast may be more joyous. 
That the time may pass more gayly, 
And our guests be more contented! " 

Then the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis, 55 

He the idle Yenadizze, 
He the merry mischief-maker, 
Whom the people called the Storm-Fool, 
Rose among the gaests assembled. 

Skilled was he in sports and pastimes, 60 

In the merry dance of snow-shoes. 
In the play of qnoits and ball-play; 
Skilled was he in games of hazard. 
In all games of skill and hazard, 
Pugasaing, the Bowl and Counters,' 65 

Kuntassoo, the Game of Plum-stones. 

Thongh the warriors called him Faint-Heart, 
Called him coward, Shaugodaya,'' 
Idler, gambler, Yenadizze, 

Little heeded he their jesting, 70 

Little cared he for their insults. 
For the women and the maidens 
Loved the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis. 

lie was dressed in shirt of doe-skin. 
White and soft, and fringed with ermine, 75 

All inwrought with beads of wampum; 
He was dressed in deer-skin leggings. 
Fringed w^ith hedgehog quills and ermine. 
And in moccasins of buck-skin. 

Thick with quills and beads embroidered.^ 80 

On his head were plumes of swan's down, 

1 describerl later in svi. 63-95. 2 See ii. 56. * See vii. 92. 

6 



82 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

On liis heels were tails of foxes^ 
In one liand a fan of feathers. 
And a pipe was in the other. 

Barred Avifch streaks of red and yellow, 85 

Streaks of blue and bright vermilion. 
Shone the face of Pau-Puk-Keewis. 
From his forehead fell his tresses. 
Smooth, and j^arted like a woman's. 
Shining bright with oil, and j^laited, 90 

Hung with braids of scented grasses. 
As among the guests assembled. 
To the sound of flutes and singing. 
To the sound of drums and voices, 
Rose the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis, 95 

And began his mystic dances. 

First he danced a solemn measure, 
Very slow in step and gesture, 
In and out among the pine-trees, 
Through the shadows and the sunshine, 100 

Treading softly like a panther. 
Then more swiftly and still swifter, 
AVhirling, sioinning round in circles. 
Leaping o'er the guests assembled. 
Eddying round and round the wigwam, 105 

Till the leaves went whirling with him. 
Till the dust and wind together 
Swept in eddies round about him. 

Then along the sandy margin 
Of the lake, the Big-Sea- Water, :110 

On he sped with frenzied gestures. 
Stamped upon the sand, and tossed it 
Wildly in the air around him; 
Till the wind became a whirlwind. 
Till the sand was blown and sifted 115 

Like great snowdrifts o'er the landscape. 



hiaavatiia's weddixg-feast. 83 

Ileapiug all tlie sliores with Sand Dunes, 
Sand Hills of the ]N"agow Wudjoo! ' 

Thus the merry Pau-Puk-Keewis 
Danced his Beggar's Dance to please them, 120 

And, returning, sat down laughing 
There among the guests assembled. 
Sat and fanned himself serenely 
With his fan of turkey-feathers. 

Then they said to Chibiahos, 125 

To the friend of Hiawatha, 
To the sweetest of all singers. 
To the best of all musicans, 
" Sing to us, Chibiabos! 

Songs of love and songs of longing, 130 

That the feast may be more joyous. 
That the time may pass more gayly. 
And our guests be more contented! " 

And the gentle Chibiabos 
Sang in accents sweet and tender, 135 

Sang in tones of deep emotion. 
Songs of love and songs of longing; 
Looking still at Hiawatha, 
Looking at fair Laughing Water, 
Sang he softly, sang in this wise: 140 

"Onaway! Awake, beloved! 
Thou the wild-flower of the forest! 
Thou the wild-bird of the prairie ! 
Thou with ej^es so soft and fawn-like! 

*' n thou only look est at me, 145 

I am happy, I am happy, 
As the lilies of the prairie, 
When they feel the dew upon them! 

*' SAveet thy breath is as the fragrance 
Of the wild-flowers in the morning, 150 

the Grand Sable on the shore of Lake Superior, east of the Pictured Rocks. 



84 THE SONCt of HIAWATHA. 

As their fragrance is at evening. 

In tlie Moon when leaves are falling.' 

" Does not all the blood within me 
Leap to meet thee, leap to meet thee. 
As the springs to meet the sunshine, 155 

In the Moon when nights are brightest ? ^ 

" Onaway! my heart sings to thee. 
Sings with joy when thou art near me. 
As the sighing, singing branches 
In the pleasant Moon of Strawberries! ' 160 

" When thou art not pleased, beloved. 
Then my heart is sad and darkened. 
As the shining river darkens 
When the clouds drop shadows on it! 

" When thou smilest, my beloved, 165 

Then my troubled heart is brightened. 
As in sunshine gleam the ripples 
That the cold wind makes in rivers. 

" Smiles the earth, and smile the waters. 
Smile the cloudless skies above us, 170 

But I lose the way of smiling 
When thou art no longer near me! 

^'I myself, myself! behold me! 
Blood of my beating heart, behold me! 
awake, awake, beloved! 175 

Onaway! awake, beloved!" 

Thus the gentle Ohibiabos 
Sang his song of love and longing; 
And lagoo, the great boaster. 

He the marvellous story-teller, 180 

He the friend of old Nokomis, 
Jealous of the sweet musician. 
Jealous of the applause they gave him. 
Saw in all the eyes around him, 

J September. 2 April. ^ June. 



Hiawatha's wedding-feast. 85 

Saw ill all their looks and gestures, 185 

Tbafc the wedding guests assembled 
Longed to hear his pleasant stories, 
His immeasurable falsehoods. 

Very boastful was lagoo; 
Never heard lie an adventure 190 

But himself had met a greater; 
Never any deed of daring 
But himself had done a bolder; 
Never any marvellous story 
But himself could tell a stranger. 195 

Would you listen to his boasting. 
Would you only give him credence. 
No one ever shot an arrow 
Half so far and high as he had ; 

Ever caught so many fishes, 200 

Ever killed so many reindeer. 
Ever trapped so many beaver! 

None could run so fast as he could. 
None could dive so deep as he could. 
None could swim so far as he could; 205 

None had made so many journeys. 
None had seen so many wonders. 
As this wonderful lagoo, 
As this marvellous story-teller! 

Thus his name became a by-word 210 

And a jest among the people; 
And whene'er a boastful hunter 
Praised his own address too highly. 
Or a warrior, home returning, 

Talked too much of his achievements, 215 

All his hearers cried, " lagoo! 
Here's lagoo come among us! " 

He it was who carved the cradle 
Of the little Hiawatha, 



86 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA, 

Carved its framework out of linden, 220 

Bound it strong with reindeer sinews; 

He it was who taught him later 

How to make his bows and arrows. 

How to make the bow^s of ash-tree, 

And the arrows of the oak-tree. 225 

So among the guests assembled 

At my Hiawatha's wedding 

Sat lagoo, old and ugl}^. 

Sat the marvellons story-teller. 

And they said, " good lagoo, 230 

Tell us now a tale of wonder. 
Tell us of some strange adventure. 
That the feast may be more joyous. 
That the time may pass more gayly. 
And our guests be more contented! " 235 

And lagoo answered straightway, 
*' You shall hear a tale of wonder. 
You shall hear the strange adventures 
Of Osseo, the Magician/ 
From the Evening Star descended." 240 



XIL 

THE SOI^^ or THE EVENIi^G STAR. 

Can it be the sun descending 
O'er the level plain of water ? 
Or the Red Swan '^ floating, flying, 
Wounded by the magic arrow, 

1 The Indian esteemed magic very highly. '^ in iv. 209' the sunset is compared to a 

His name for it is translated "medicine." flamingo. The flamingo is not fomid Jn 

Every Indian of prowess has some form of Michigan. But the Indians imagine some 

medicine ; but there are also professional bird of the sort, for the etory of the Red 

medicinc-raen, or magicians, whose cere- Swan is an Indian tale and may be foiind 

monies are described in xv. 87-216. in '' Algic Researches,"' ii. 9. 



THE SON OF THE EVENING STAK. 87 

Staining all the waves with crimson, 5 

With the crimson of its life-blood. 
Filling all the air with splendor. 
With the splendor of its plumage? 

Yes; it is the sun descending. 
Sinking down into the water; . 10 

All the sky is stained with purple, 
All the water flushed with crimson! 
No; it is the Eed Swun floating, 
Diving down beneath the water; 
To the sky its wings are lifted, 15 

With its blood the waves are reddened! 

Over it the Star of Evening 
Melts and trembles through the purple. 
Hangs suspended in the twilight. 
No; it is a bead of wampum ' 20 

On the robes of the Great Spirit, 
As he passes through the twilight. 
Walks in silence through the heavens. 

This with joy beheld lagoo 
And he said in haste: ^' Behold it! 25 

See the sacred Star of Evening! 
You shall hear a tale of wonder. 
Hear the story of Osseo,^ 
Son of the Evening Star, Osseo ! 

" Once, in days no more remembered, 30 

Ages nearer the beginning. 
When the heavens were closer to us. 
And the Gods were more familiar, 
In the North-land lived a hunter, 

1 See ii. 4. Indian in the north, who had ten daugh- 

2 The Algoukin legend of Osseo may be ters, all of whom grew up to womanhood, 
fonnd in " Algic Researches," ii. 150. The They w^ere noted for their beauty, but es- 
beginning may be quoted, as showing the pecially Oweenee, the youngest, who w'as 
bare skeleton from which Longfellow made very independent in her way of thinking.'" 
such real poetry. " There once lived au The poem follows the legend very closely. 



88 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Witli ten young and comely daughters, 35 

Tali and lithe as wands of willow; 

Only Oweenee, the youngest. 

She the wilful and the wayward. 

She the silent, dreamy maiden. 

Was the fairest of the sisters. 40 

"All these women married warriors. 
Married brave and haughty husbands; 
Only Oweenee, the ^^oungest. 
Laughed and flouted all her lovers, 
All her young and handsome suitors, 45 

And then married old Osseo, 
Old Osseo, poor and ugly, 
Broken with age and weak with coughing. 
Always coughing like a squirrel. 

'^ Ah, but beautiful within him 50 

Was the spirit of Osseo, 
From the Evening Star descended. 
Star of Evening, Star of Woman, 
Star of tenderness and passion! 

All its fire was in his bosom, 55 

All its beauty in his spirit. 
All its mystery in his being, 
All its splendor in his language! 

*' And her lovers, the rejected. 
Handsome men with belts of wampum,* 60 

Handsome men with paint and feathers. 
Pointed at her in derision. 
Followed her with jest and laughter. 
But she said : ' I care not for you. 
Care not for your belts of wampum, 65 

Care not for your paint and feathers. 
Care not for your jest and laughter; 
I am happy with Osseo! ' 

* This was the Indian wealth. 



THE SON OF THE EVENING STAR. 89 

^' Once to some great feast invited. 
Through the damp and dusk of evening 70 

Walked together the ten sisters, 
Walked together with their husbands; 
Slowly followed old Osseo, 
With fair Oweenee beside him; 

All the others chatted gayly, 75 

These two only walked in silence. 

" At the western sky Osseo 
Gazed intent, as if imploring, 
Often stopped and gazed imploring 
At the trembling Star of Evening, 80 

At the tender Star of Woman; 
And they heard him murmur softly, 
'All, sliowaiii nemesliin, Nosa! 
Pity, pity me, my father! ' ' 

^^ * Listen! ' said the eldest sister, 85 

' He is praying to his father! 
AVhat a pity that the old man 
Does not stumble in the pathway. 
Does not break his neck by falling! ' 
And they laughed till all the forest 90 

Eang with their unseemly laughter. 

" On their pathway through the woodlands 
Lay an oak, by storms uprooted. 
Lay the great trank of an oak-tree. 
Buried half in leaves and mosses, 95 

Mouldering, crumbling, huge and hollow. 
And Osseo, when he saw it. 
Gave a shout, a cry of anguish. 
Leaped into its yawning cavern, 
At one end went in an old man, 100 

Wasted, wrinkled, old, and ugly; 

* This is the translation of the preceding line. 



90 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

From the other came a young man. 

Tall and straight and strong and handsome. 

'* Thus Osseo was transfigured. 
Thus restored to youth and beauty; 105 

• But, alas for good Osseo, 
And for Oweenee, the faithful! 
Strangely, too, was she transfigured. 
Changed into a weak old Avoman, 
AVith a stafi' she tottered onward, 110 

Wasted, wrinkled, old, and ngly! 
And the sisters and their husbands 
Laughed -until the echoing forest 
Eang with their unseemly laughter. 

*' But Osseo turned not from her, 115 

"Walked with slower step beside her. 
Took her hand, as brown and withered 
As an oak -leaf is in w^inter. 
Called her sweetheart, Nenemoosha, 
Soothed her with soft words of kindness, 120 

Till they reached the lodge of feasting. 
Till they sat down in the wigwam. 
Sacred to the Star of Evening, 
To the tender Star of Woman. 

" Wrapt in visions, lost in dreaming, 125 

At the banquet sat Osseo; 
All were merr}-, all were happy. 
All were joyous but Osseo. 
Neither food nor drink he tasted, 
Neither did he speak nor listen, 130 

But as one bewildered sat he. 
Looking dreamily and sadly. 
First at Oweenee, then upward 
At the gleaming sky above them. 

" Then a voice was heard, a whisper 135 

Coming from the starry distance. 



THE SON OF THE EVENING STAR. 



91 



Comiug from the empty vastness. 

Low, and musical, and tender; 

And the voice said: ' Osseo! 

my son, my best beloved! 140 

Broken are the spells that bound you. 

All the charms of the magicians. 

All the magic powers of evil ; 

Come to me; ascend, Osseo! 

" ' Taste the food that stands before you : 145 

It is blessed and enchanted. 
It has magic virtues in it. 
It will change you to a spirit. 
All your bowls and all your kettles 
Shall be wood and clay no longer; 150 

But the bowls be changed to wampum. 

And the kettles shall be silver; 

They shall shine like shells of scarlet. 

Like the fire shall gleam and glimmer. 

*' ' And the w^omen shall no longer 155 

Bear the dreary doom of labor. 

But be changed to birds, and glisten 

With the beauty of the starlight, 

Painted with the dusky splendors 

Of the skies and clouds of evening! ' 160 

" What Osseo heard as whispers. 

What as words he comprehended. 

Was but music to the others. 

Music as of birds afar off. 

Of the whippoorwill afar off, 165 

Of the lonely Wawonaissa 

Singing in the darksome forest. 

" Then the lodge began to tremble. 

Straight begLn to shake and tremble. 

And they felt it rising, rising, I'J'O 

Slowly through the air ascending. 



92 THE SONG OF HIAV/ATHA. 

From the darkness of the tree-tops 

Forth into the dewy starlight. 

Till it passed the topmost branches; 

And behold! the wooden dishes 175 

All were changed to shells of scarlet! 

And behold ! the earthen kettles 

All were changed to bowls of silver! 

And the roof-poles of the wigwam 

Were as glittering rods of sih-er, 180 

And the roof of bark upon them 

As the shining shards ^ of beetles. 

^' Then Osseo gazed around him. 
And he saw the nine fair sisters. 
All the sisters and their husbands, 185 

Changed to birds of various plnmage. 
Some were jays and some were magpies. 
Others thrushes, others blackbirds; 
And they hopped, and sang, and twittered. 
Perked and fluttered all their feathers, 190 

Strutted in their shining plnmage. 
And their tails like fans unfolded. 

"•' Only wee nee, the youngest, 
Was not changed, but sat in silence. 
Wasted, wrinkled, old, and ugly, 195 

Looking sadly at the others; 
Till Osseo, gazing upward, 
Gave another cry of anguish, 
Such a cry as he had uttered 
By the oak-tree in the forest. 200 

*' Then returned her youth and beauty, 
And her soiled and tattered garments 
Were transformed to robes of ermine. 
And her stalT became a feather, 
Yes, a shining silver feather! 205 

1 the wing-covers. 



THE SON OF THE EVENING STAE. 93 

''And again the wigwam trembled, 
Swayed and rushed through airy currents. 
Through transparent cloud and vapor. 
And amid celestial splendors 

On the Evening Star alighted, 210 

As a snow-flake falls on snow-flake, 
As a leaf dro^^s on a river, 
As the thistle-down on water. 

" Forth with cheerful words of welcome 
Came the father of Osseo, 215 

He with radiant locks of silver, 
He with eyes serene and tender. 
And he said : ' My son, Osseo, 
Hang the cage of birds you bring there, 
Hang the cage with rods of silver, 220 

And the birds with glistening feathers. 
At the doorway of my wigwam.' 

'' At the door he liuug the bird-cage. 
And they entered in and gladly 
Listened to Osseo's father, 225 

Ruler of the Star of Evening, 
As he said: ' my Osseo! 
I have had compassion on you. 
Given you back your youth and beauty, 
Into birds of various j^lumage 230 

Changed your sisters and their husbands; 
Changed them thus because they mocked you 
In the figure of the old man. 
In that aspect sad and wrinkled. 
Could not see your heart of passion, 235 

Could not see your youth immortal; 
Only Oweenee, the faithful. 
Saw your naked heart and loved you. 

" ' In the lodge that glimmers yonder 
In the little star that twinkles 240 



94 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Througli the vapors, on the left hand. 

Lives the envious Evil Spirit, 

The Wabeno,^ the magician. 

Who transformed you to an old man. 

Take heed lest his beams fall on you, 245 

For the rays he darts around him 

Are the power of his enchantment. 

Are the arrows that he uses.' 

" Many years, in peace and quiet. 
On the peaceful Star of Evening 250 

Dwelt Osseo with his father; 
Many years, in song and flutter. 
At the doorway of the wigwam. 
Hung the cage with rods of silver. 
And fair Oweenee, the faithful, 255 

Bore a son unto Osseo, 
With the beauty of his mother. 
With the courage of his father. 

"And the boy grew np and prospered. 
And Osseo, to delight him, 260 

Made him little bows and arrows. 
Opened the great cage of silver. 
And let loose his aunts and uncles, 
All those birds with glossy feathers. 
For his little son to shoot at. 265 

" Round and round they wheeled and darted, 
Filled the Evening Star with music, 
With their songs of joy and freedom; 
Filled the Evening Star with splendor, 
With the fluttering of their plumage; 270 

Till the boy, the little hunter. 
Bent his bow and shot an arrow. 
Shot a swift and fatal arrow, 

1 See sv. 88. 



THE SON OF THE EVENING STAR. 95 

And a bird, with sliiuiug feathers. 

At his feet fell wounded sorely. 275 

*'Bnt, wondrous transformation! 
'Twas no bird he saw before him! 
'Twas a beautiful young woman. 
With the arrow in her bosom! 

" When her blood fell on the planet, 280 

On the sacred Star of Evening, 
Broken was the spell of magic. 
Powerless was the strange enchantment, 
And the youth, the fearless bowman. 
Suddenly felt himself descending, 385 

Held by unseen hands, but sinking 
Downward through the empty spaces. 
Downward through the clouds and vapors. 
Till he rested on an island. 

On an island, green and grassy, 290 

Yonder in the Big-Sea- Water. 

"After him he.saw descending 
All the birds with shining feathers, 
Fluttering, falling, wafted downward. 
Like the painted leaves of Autumn; 295 

And the lodge with poles of silver. 
With its roof like wings of beetles. 
Like the shining shards of beetles. 
By the winds of heaven uplifted. 
Slowly sank upon the island, 300 

Bringing back the good Osseo, 
Bringing Oweenee, the faithful. 

''Then the birds, again transfigured, 
Reassumed the shape of mortals. 
Took their shape, but not their stature; 305 

They remained as Little People, 
Like the pygmies, the Puk-Wudjies,' 

1 See xviii. 5. 



96 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

And on pleasant nights of Summer, 

When the Evening Star was sliining. 

Hand in hand they danced together 310 

On the island's craggy headlands. 

On the sand-beach low and level. 

*' Still their glittering lodge is seen there. 
On the tranquil Summer evenings. 
And upon the shore the fisher 315 

Sometimes hears their happy voices, 
Sees them dancing in the starlight! " 

When the story was completed, 
When the wondrous tale was ended. 
Looking round npon his listeners, 320 

Solemnly lagoo added : 
*' There are great men, I have known such. 
Whom their people understand not. 
Whom they even make a jest of. 
Scoff and jeer at in derision. 325 

Erom the story of Osseo 
Let us learn the fate of jesters! " * 

All the wedding guests delighted 
Listened to the marvellous story. 
Listened laughing and applauding, 330 

And they whispered to each other : 
*' Does he mean himself, I wonder? 
And are we the aunts and nncles ? " 

Then again sang Chibiabos, 
Sang a song of love and longing, 335 

In those accents sweet and tender. 
In those tones of pensive sadness. 
Sang a maiden's lamentation 
For her lover, her Algonquin. 

" When I think of my beloved, 340 

Magoo himself could not complain of not concerned wild spirits like Pau-Puk-Kee- 
being treated witli respect, except so far as wis. 



THE SON OF THE EVENING STAR. 97 

Ah me ! think of my beloved, 
When my heart is thinking of him, 
my sweetlieart, my Algonquin ! 

''Ah me ! when I parted from him, 
Eound my neck he hung the wampum, 345 

As a pledge, the snow-white wampum, 
my sweetheart, my Algonquin! 

"I will go with you, he whispered. 
Ah me ! to your native country; 
Let me go with you, he whispered, 350 

my sweetheart, my Algonquin ! 

" Far away, away, I answered. 
Very far away, I answered. 
Ah me ! is my native country. 
my sweetheart, my Algonquin ! 355 

" When I looked back to behold him. 
Where we parted, to behold him. 
After me he still was gazing, 
my sweetheart, my Algonquin ! 

" By the tree he still was standing, 360 

By the fallen tree was standing. 
That had dropped into the water, 
my sweetheart, my Algonquin ! 

" When I think of my beloved. 
Ah me ! think of my beloved, 365 

When my heart is thinking of him, 
my sweetheart, my Algonquin ! " 

Such was Hiaw^atha's Wedding, 
Such the dance of Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
Such the story of lagoo, 370 

Such the songs of Chibiabos; 
Thus the wedding banquet ended. 
And the wedding guests departed. 
Leaving Hiawatha happy 

With the night and Minnehaha. 375 

7 



98 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

XIII. 

BLESSING THE CORK-FIELDS. 

Sing, Song of Hiawatha, 

Of the happy days that followed, 

In the land of the Ojibways/ 

In the pleasant land and peaceful ! 

Sing the mysteries of Mondamin,'^ 6 

Sing the Blessing of the Corn-fields ! 

Buried was the bloody hatchet. 
Buried was the dreadful war-club. 
Buried were all warlike weapons. 
And the war-cry was forgotten. 10 

There was peace among the nations; 
Unmolested roved the liunters. 
Built the birch canoe for sailing. 
Caught the fish in lake and river. 
Shot the deer and trapped the beaver; 15 

Unmolested worked the women, ^ 
Made their sugar from the maple, 
Gathered wild rice in the meadows. 
Dressed the skins of deer and beaver. 

All around the happy village 20 

Stood the maize-fields, green and shining. 
Waved the green plumes of Mondamin, 
Waved his soft and sunny tresses, 
Filling all the land with plenty. 

'Twas the women who in Spring-time 25 

Planted the broad fields and fruitful. 
Buried in the earth Mondamin; 
'Twas the women who in Autumn 

1 See p. si. seen, take entire charge of the domestic 

2 See V. 83 foil. part of life, which includes corn-planting 
8 The -Indian women, as we have already and corn-gathering. 



BLESSING THE CORN-FIELDS. 99 

Stripped the yellow husks of harvest. 

Stripped the garments from Mondamin, 30 

Even as Hiawatha taught them. 

Once, when all the maize was planted, 
Hiawatha, wise and thoughtful. 
Spake and said to Minnehaha, 

To his wife, the Laughing Water : 35 

" You shall bless to-night the corn-fields. 
Draw a magic circle round them. 
To protect them from destruction, 
Blast of mildew, blight of insect, 
Wagemin, the thief of corn-fields, 40 

Paimosaid, who steals the maize-ear ! ' 

'' In the night, when all is silence. 
In the niglit, when all is darkness, 
When the Spirit of Sleep, Nepahwin, 
Shuts the doors of all the wigwams, 45 

So that not an ear can hear you, 
So that not an eye can see you. 
Else up from your bed in silence. 
Lay aside your garments wholly. 
Walk around the fields you planted,*^ 50 

Eound the borders of the corn-fields. 
Covered by your tresses only, 
Eobed with darkness as a garment. 

" Thus the fields shall be more fruitful. 
And the passing of your footsteps 55 

Draw a magic circle round them. 
So that neither blight nor mildew, 
Neither burrowing worm nor insect. 
Shall pass o'er the magic circle; 
Not the dragon-fly, Kwo-ne-she, 60 

1 See lines 226, 227. These names are im- 2 This custom is mentioned by School- 
personations of the blight and other evils craft in his larger book on Indian history, 
which mav affect the corn. manners, and customs. 



100 THE SONG OF PIIAWATHA. 

Nor the spider, Subbekaslie, 

Nor the grasshopper, Pah-piik-keena/ 

Nor the mighty caterpillar, 

Waj-muk-kwana, with the bear-skin. 

King of all the caterpillars ! " 65 

On the tree-tops near the corn-fields 
Sat the hungry crows and ray ens, 
Kahgahgee, the King of Ravens, 
With his band of black marauders. 
And they laughed at Hiawatha, 70 

Till the tree-tops shook Avith laughter. 
With their melancholy laughter. 
At the words of Hiawatha. 

*' Hear him ! " said they; " hear the Wise Man, 
Hear the plots of Hiawatha ! " 75 

When the noiseless night descended 
Broad and dark o'er field and forest. 
When the mournful Wawonaissa,^ 
Sorrowing sang among the hemlocks, 
And the Spirit of Sleep, Nepahwin, 80 

Shut the doors of all the wigwams. 
From her bed rose Laughing Water, 
Laid aside her garments wholly. 
And with darkness clothed and guarded. 
Unashamed and unaffrighted, 85 

Walked securely round the corn-fields. 
Drew the sacred, magic circle 
Of her footprints round the corn-fields. 

No one but the Midnight only 
Saw her beauty in the darkness, 90 

No one but the Wawonaissa 
Heard the panting of her bosom ; 

> This word may be compared with the idea at the bottom, says Mr. Schoolcraft, 
name Pau-Puk-Keewis, which is different in " is that of harum-scarum." 
form, as being the name of a person. The ^ whippoorwill. See sv. 82. 



BLESSING THE CORN-FIELDS. 101 

Guskewan, tlie darkness, wrapped her 

Closely in liis sacred mantle. 

So that none might see her beauty, 95 

So that none might boast, " 1 saw her ! " 

On the morrow, as the day dawned, 
Kahgahgee, the King of Ravens, 
Gathered all his black marauders, 
Crows and blackbirds, jays and ravens, 100 

Clamorous on the dusky tree-tops. 
And descended, fast and fearless. 
On the fields of Hiawatha, 
On the grave of the Mondamin. 

^' We will drag Mondamin," said they, 105 

'' From the grave where he is buried. 
Spite of all the magic circles 
Laaghing Water draws around it, 
Spite of all the sacred footprints 
Minnehaha stamps upon it ! " 110 

But the wary Hiawatha, 
Ever thoughtful, careful, watchful, 
Had o'erheard the scornful laaghter 
When they mocked him from the tree-tops. 
^' Kaw ! " he said, " my friends the ravens ! 115 
Kahgahgee, my King of Ravens ! 
I will teach you all a lesson 
That shall not be soon forgotten! " 

He had risen before the daybreak. 
He had spread o'er all the corn-fields 120 

Snares to catch the black marauders. 
And was lying now in ambush 
In the neighboring grove of pine-trees. 
Waiting for the crows and blackbirds. 
Waiting for the jays and ravens. 125 

Soon they came with caw and clamor. 
Rush of wings and cry of voices. 



102 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

To their work of devastation, 

Settling down uj^on tlie corn-fields. 

Delving deep with beak and talon, 130 

For the body of Mondamin. 

And w^ith all their craft and cnnning. 

All their skill in wiles of warfare. 

They j^erceived no danger near them. 

Till their claws became entangled, 135 

Till they found themselves imprisoned 

In the snares of Hiawatha. 

From his place of ambush came he. 
Striding terrible among them, 

And so awful was his aspect 140 

That the bravest quailed with terror. 
AVithout mercy he destroyed them 
Right and left, by tens and twenties. 
And their wretched, lifeless bodies 
Hung aloft on poles for scarecrows 145 

Eouud the consecrated corn-fields. 
As a signal of his vengeance. 
As a warning to marauders. 

Only Kahgahgee, the leader, 
Kahgahgee, the King of Havens, 150 

He alone was spared among them 
As a hostage for his people. 
With his prisoner-string he bound him. 
Led him captive to his wigwam. 

Tied him fast with cords of elm-bark ' 155 

To the ridge-pole of his wigwam. 

'' Kahgahgee, my raven ! " said he, 
" You the leader of the robbers, 
You the plotter of the mischief. 
The contriver of this outrnge, 160 

^ The co)'ds of elin-ba?'fc 'dvc called j)jiso/ier them on war parties to bind those ■who 
string because it was the custom to carry might bu taken. 



BLESSING THE CORN-FIELDS. 103 

, I will keep you, I will hold you, 
As a hostage for your people. 
As a pledge of good behavior ! " 

And he left him, grim and sulky. 
Sitting in the morning sunshine 165 

On the summit of the wigwam. 
Croaking fiercely his displeasure. 
Flapping his great sable pinions. 
Vainly straggling for his freedom. 
Vainly calling on his people ! 170 

Summer passed, and Sliawondasee ^ 
Breathed his sighs' o'er all the landscape. 
From the South-land sent his ardors. 
Wafted kisses warm and tender ; 
And the maize-field grew and ripened, 175 

Till it stood in all the splendor 
Of its garments green and yellow. 
Of its tassels and its plumage, 
And the maize-ears full and shining 
Gleamed from bursting sheaths of verdure. 180 

Then Nokomis, the old woman. 
Spake, and said to Minnehaha : 
" 'Tis the Moon when leaves are falling ; '^ 
All the wild-rice has been gathered. 
And the maize is ripe and ready ; 185 

Let us gather in the harvest. 
Let us wrestle with Mondamin,^ 
Strip him of his plumes and tassels. 
Of his garments green and yellow! " 

And the merry Laughing Water 190 

Went rejoicing from the wigwam. 
With Nokomis, old and Avrinkled, 
And they called the women round them. 
Called the young men and the maidens, 

1 Sec ii. 226. 2 September. ^ As Hiawatha had wrestled. Sec v. 237. 



104: THE SOXG OF HIAWATHA. 

To tlie harvest of the corn-fields, 195 

To the husking of the maize-ear. 

On the border of the forest, 
Underneath the fragrant pine-trees. 
Sat the old men and the warriors 
Smoking in the pleasant shadow. 200 

In uninterrupted silence 
Looked they at the gamesome labor 
Of the young men and the women ; 
Listened to their noisy talking, 

To their laughter and their singing, 205 

Heard them chattering like the magpies. 
Heard them laughing like the blue-ja3^s, 
Heard them singing like the robins. 

And whene'er some lucky maiden 
Found a red ear in the husking, 210 

Found a maize-ear red as blood is, 
** Nushka ! " ' cried they all together, 
*' Nushka ! you shall have a sweetheart. 
You shall have a handsome husband ! '* 
'^ Ugh ! " the old men all responded, 215 

From their seats beneath the pine-trees. 

And whene'er a youth or maiden 
Found a crooked ear in husking, 
Found a maize-ear in the husking 
Blighted, mildewed, or misshapen, 220 

Then they laughed and sang together. 
Crept and limped about the corn-fields. 
Mimicked in their gait and gestures 
Some old man, bent almost double. 
Singing singly or together : 225 

" Wagemin, the thief of corn-fields ! 
Paimosaid, who steals the maize-ear ! " 

Till the corn-fields rang with laughter, 

1 Look ! 



PICTURE-WRITING. 105 

Till from Hiawatha's wigwam 

Kahgahgee, the King of Ravens, 230 

Screamed and quivered in his anger. 

And from all the neighboring tree-tops 

Cawed and croaked the black marauders. 

'* Ugh ! " the old men all responded, 

From their seats beneath the pine-trees ! 335 



XIV. 



PICTURE-WRITING. 

In those days said Hiawatha, 

^' Lo ! how all things fade and perish ! 

From the memory of the old men 

Pass away the great traditions, 

The achievements of the warriors, 5 

Tlie adventures of the huntere. 

All the wisdom of the Medas,' 

All the craft of the Wabenos, 

All the marvellous dreams and visions 

Of the Jossakeeds, the Prophets ! 10 

^' Great men die and are forgotten. 
Wise men speak ; their words of wisdom 
Perish in the ears that hear them, 
Do not reach the generations 

That, as yet unborn, are waiting 15 

In the great, mysterious darkness 
Of the speechless days that shall be! ^ 

1 The Medas, Jossakeeds, and Wabenos 2 gome semi-civilized tribes pass their 

are said by Schoolcraft (" Indian Tribes of wisdom from generation to generation in 

theUuitedStatee,"v. 71) to form three secret rhythmic poems, which are held in the 

societies. The first are magicians, the sec- memory by a special class. These poems 

end are prophets, and the third, most secret the Indians, on the whole, do not seem to 

of all, are supposed to be in league with the have had ; their legends were in prose, not 

powers of evil. so easy to remember. 



106 THE vSONG OF HIAWATHA. 

'* On the grave-posts of our fathers 
Are no signs, no figures painted ; 
Who are in those graves we know not, 20 

Only know they are our fathers. 
Of what kith they are and kindred, 
From what old, ancestral Totem,* 
Be it Eagle, Bear, or Beaver, 

They descended, this we know not, 25 

Only know they are our fathers. 

" Face to face Ave speak together. 
But we cannot speak when absent. 
Cannot send our voices from lis 
To the friends that dwell afar off ; 30 

Cannot send a secret message, 
But the bearer learns our secret. 
May pervert it, may betray it. 
May reveal it unto others." 

Thus said Hiawatha, walking 35 

In the solitary forest. 
Pondering, musing in the forest. 
On the welfare of his people. 

From his pouch he took his colors. 
Took his paints of different colors, 40 

On the smooth hark of a hirch-tree 
Painted many shapes and figures. 
Wonderful and mystic figures. 
And each figure had a meaning, 
Each some word or thought suggested.* . 45 

Gitche Manito the Mighty, 



' The Totem was the device Avhich indi- 2 ^11 the tribes of Indians have some eort 

Gated the guardian spirit of the fabled an- of picture-writing. The Ojibwas held that 

cestor of a family. It was generally some Manabozho invented theirs. They add, 

bird or beast. There are a comparatively however, that his pictures had a magic 

small number of totems throughout all the power, probably over the thing presented, 

tribes ; but all who had the same totem ss in line 140 ; this idea is not uncommon 

were held related, in savage tribes. 



PICTURE-WRITING. 107 

He, the Master of Life, was painted 

As au egg, with points projecting 

To the four winds of the heavens. 

Everywhere is the Great Spirit, 60 

Was the meaning of this s3'mbol. 

Mitche Manito the Mighty, 
He the dreadful Spirit of Evil, 
As a serpent was depicted. 

As Kenabeek, the great serpent. 55 

Very crafty, very cunning, 
Is the creeping Spirit of Evil, 
Was the meaning of this symbol. 

Life and Death he drew as circles. 
Life was white, but Death was darkened ; 60 

Sun and moon and stars he painted, 
Man and beast, and fish and reptile, 
Eorests, mountains, lakes, and rivers. 

For the earth he drew a straight line. 
For the sky a bow above it ; 65 

White the space between for day-time. 
Filled with little stars for night-time; 
On the left a point for sunrise. 
On the right a point for sunset. 

On the top a point for noontide, 70 

And for rain and cloudy weather 
Waving lines descending from it. 

Footprints pointing towards a wigwam 
Were a sign of invitation. 

Were a sign of guests assembling ; 75 

Bloody hands with palms uplifted 
Were a symbol of destruction, 
Were a hostile sign and s3mibol.* 

All these things did Hiawatha 

1 These signs are pretty clear to ue. Many of the Indian signs are far more difficult of 
interpretation. 



108 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Show unto his wondering people, 80 

And interpreted their meaning, 

And he said : '^ Behold, your grave-posts 

Have no mark, no sign, nor symbol. 

Go and paint them all with figures ; 

Each one with its household symbol, 85 

"With its own ancestral Totem ; 

So that those who follow after 

May distinguish them and know them." 

And they painted on the grave-posts 
Of the graves yet nnforgotten, 90 

Each his own ancestral Totem, 
Each the symbol of his household ; 
Eignres of the Bear and Reindeer, 
Of the Turtle, Crane, and Beaver, 
Each inverted as a token 95 

That the owner was departed. 
That the chief wdio bore the symbol 
Lay beneath in dust and ashes. 

And the Jossakecds, the Prophets, 
The AVabenos, the Magicians, 100 

And the Medicine-men, the Medas, 
Painted upon bark and deer-skin 
Figures for the songs they chanted, 
Eor each song a separate symbol. 
Figures mystical and awful, 105 

Figures strange and brightly colored ; 
And each figure had its meaning. 
Each some magic song suggested. 

The Great Spirit, the Creator, 
Flashing light through all the lieaven ; 110 

The great serpent, the Kenabeek, 
With liis bloody crest erected. 
Creeping, looking into heaven ; 
In the sky the sun, that listens. 



PICTURE-WRITING. 109 

And the moon eclipsed and dying ; 115 

Owl and eagle, crane and hen-liawk. 

And the cormorant, bird of magic ; 

Headless men that walk the heavens, 

Bodies lying pierced with arrows. 

Bloody hands of death uplifted, 120 

Flags on graves, and great war-captains 

Grasping both the earth and heaven ! 

Such as these the shapes they painted 
On the birch-bark and the deer-skin ; 
Songs of war and songs of hunting, 125 

Songs of medicine and of magic. 
All were written in these figures. 
For each figure had its meaning, 
Each its separate song recorded/ 

Nor forgotten was the Love- Song, 130 

The most subtle of all medicines. 
The most potent spell of magic. 
Dangerous more than war or hunting ! 
Thus the Love-Song was recorded. 
Symbol and interpretation. 135 

First a human figure standing. 
Painted in the brightest scarlet ; 
'Tis the lover, the musician. 
And the meaning is, " My painting 
Makes me powerful over others." "^ 140 

Then the figure seated, singing. 
Playing on a drum of magic. 
And the interpretation, "Listen ! 
'Tis my voice you hear, my singing ! " 

Then the same red figure seated 145 

1 This picture-writing is, of course, differ- Our writing represents spolieu language ; 

ent from our writing. \Ve liave a small num- the picture-writing represents tlie things 

ber of signs which are put together in many spoken of. It is something like the old' 

different waj^e. The Indians had a separate Egyptian hieroglyphics. See pp. xsiii., 

sign or picture for eacli word or sentence, sxiv. 2 gee note to 1. 45. 



110 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Ill the shelter of a wigwam, 
And the meaning of the symbol, 
" I will come and sit beside you 
In the mystery of my passion ! " 

Then two figures, man and woman, 150 

Standing hand in hand together 
AVith their hands so clasped together 
That they seem in one united. 
And the words thus represented 
Are, "I see your heart within yoii, 155 

And your cheeks are red with blushes ! " 

Next the maiden on an island. 
In the centre of an island ; 
And the song this shape suggested 
Was, " Though you were at a distance, 160 

Were upon some far-off island. 
Such the spell I cast upon you. 
Such the magic power of passion, 
I could straightway draw you to me ! " 

Then the figure of the maiden 165 

Sleeping, and the lover near her, 
Whispering to her in her slumbers. 
Saying, ' ' Though you were far from me 
In the land of Sleep and Silence, 
Still the voice of love would reach you ! " 170 

And the last of all the figures 
Was a heart within a circle. 
Drawn within a magic circle ; 
And the image had this meaning : 
*' Naked lies your heart before me, 175 

To your naked heart I whisper ! " 

Thus it was that Hiawatha, 
In his wisdom taught the people 
All the mysteries of painting, 
All the art of Picture-Writing, 180 



HIAWATHA'S LAMENTATION. Ill 

On the smooth bark of the birch-tree. 
On the white skin of the reindeer. 
On the grave-posts of the village. 



XV. 

Hiawatha's lamentation^. 

In those days the Evil Spirits, 

All the Manitos of mischief. 

Fearing Hiawatha's wisdom, 

And his love for Chibiabos, 

Jealous of their faithful friendship, 5 

And their noble words and actions, 

Made at length a league against them, 

To molest them and destroy them. 

Hiawatha, wise and wary, 
Often said to Chibiabos, 10 

"0 my brother ! do not leave me. 
Lest the Evil Spirits harm you ! " 
Chibiabos, young and heedless. 
Laughing shook his coal-black tresses. 
Answered ever sweet and childlike, 15 

" Do not fear for me, brother ! 
Harm and evil come not near me ! " 

Once when Peboan, the Winter, 
Eoofed with ice the Big-Sea- Water, 
When the snow-flakes, whirling downward, 20 

Hissed among the withered oak-leaves. 
Changed the pine-trees into wigwams. 
Covered all the earth with silence, — 
Armed with arrows, shod with snow-shoes. 
Heeding not his brother's warning, 25 

Fearing not the Evil Spirits, 



112 THE SONG OP HIAWATHA. 

Forth to hunt the deer with antlers 
All alone went Chibiabos. 

Right across the Big-Sea-Water 
Sprang with speed the deer before him, 30 

With the wind and snow he followed. 
O'er the treacherous ice he followed. 
Wild with all the fierce commotion 
And the rapture of the hunting. 

But beneath, the Evil Spirits 35 

Lay in ambush, waiting for him. 
Broke the treacherous ice beneath him. 
Dragged him downward to the bottom. 
Buried in the sand his body. 

Unktahee, the god of water, 40 

He the god of the Bacotahs, 
Drowned him in the deep abysses 
Of the lake of Gitehe Gnmee. 

From the headlands Hiawatha 
Sent forth such a wail of anguish, 45 

Such a fearful lamentation, 
Tliat the bison paused to listen. 
And the wolves howled from the prairies. 
And the thunder in the distance 
Starting answered '" Baim-wawa 1 " * 50 

Then his face with black he painted. 
With his robe his head he covered. 
In his wigwam sab lamenting. 
Seven long weeks he sat lamenting. 
Uttering still this moan of sorrow : — 55 

" He is dead, the sweet musician 1 
He the sweetest of all singers 1 
He has gone from us forever. 
He has moved a little nearer 
To the Master of all muRic, 60 

1 The sound of thuuder. See iv. 199. 



113 



To the Master of all singing ! 
my brother, Chibiabos ! " 

And the melancholy fir-trees 
AYavecI their dark green fans above him, 
"Waved their purple cones above him, 65 

Sighing with him to console him. 
Mingling with his lamentation 
Their complaining, their lamenting. 

Came the Spring, and all the forest 
Looked in vain for Chibiabos ; 70 

Sighed the rivulet, Sebowisha, 
Sighed the rushes in the meadow. 

From the tree- tops sang the bluebird. 
Sang the bluebird, the Owaissa, 
''Chibiabos! Chibiabos! 75 

He is dead, the sweet musician ! " 

From the wigwam sang the robin. 
Sang the robin, the Oj)echee, 
" Chibiabos ! Chibiabos ! 
He is dead, the sweetest singer ! " 80 

And at night through all the forest 
Went the whippoorwill complaining. 
Wailing Avent the Wawonaissa, 
" Chibiabos ! Chibiabos ! 

He is dead, the sweet musician ! 85 

He the sweetest of all singers ! " 

Then the medicine-men, the Medas,* 
The magicians, the Wabenos, 
And the Jossakeeds, the prophets. 
Came to visit Hiawatha : 90 



* This account of Indian medicine is very beast (see 11. 95, 126), of wliich he has been 
curious. Like most uncivilized peoples, the told in a dream. In addition to the usual 
Indians confuse the ideas of medicine and charms, the medicine-men used herbs and 
magic. Their customs lead everyone to performed incantations and ceremonies, as 
have some personal charm, his own " medi- in 11. Ill, 145. Every man carried his medi- 
cine," usually the skin of some bird or cine in a special bag or pouch (1. 94). 



114 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Built a Sacred Lodge beside liim, 

To appease him, to console him. 

Walked iii silent, grave procession. 

Bearing each a pouch of healing. 

Skin of beaver, lynx, or otter, 95 

Filled with magic roots and simples. 

Filled with very potent medicines. 

When he heard their steps approaching, 
Hiawatha ceased lamenting, 

Called no more on Chibiabos ; 100 

Naught he questioned, naught he answered, 
But his mournful head uncovered. 
From his face the mourning colors 
Washed he slowly and in silence, 
Slowly and in silence followed 105 

Onward to the Sacred Wigwam.' 

There a magic drink they gave him, 
Made of Nahma-wusk,^ the sjoearminfc, 
And Wabeno-wusk,^ the yarrow, 
Eoots of power, and herbs of healing ; 110 

Beat their drums, and shook their rattles ; 
Chanted singly and in chorus. 
Mystic songs, like these, they chanted. 

^' I myself, myself ! behold me ! 
'Tis the great Gray Eagle talking ; 115 

Come, ye white crows, come and hear him ! 
The loud-speaking thunder helps me ; 
All the unseen spirits help me ; 
I can hear their voices calling. 

All around the sky I hear them ! 120 

I can blow you strong, my brother, 
I can heal you, Hiawatha ! " 

''' Hi-au-ha ! " replied the chorus, 
^' AVay-ha-way ! " the mystic chorus. 

1 A special wigwam was built for the core- ^ The word would seem to mean fish-herb, 
monies. ^ the magic herb. See xii. 243, 



heawatha's lamentation. 115 

'' Friends of mine are all the serpents ! 125 

Hear me shake my skin of hen-hawk ! 
Mahng,^ the white loon, I can kill him ; 
I can shoot your heart and kill it ! 
I can blow yon strong, my brother, 
I can heal you, Hiawatha ! " 130 

'^ Hi-au-ha ! " replied the chorus, 
'' Way-ha-way ! " the mystic chorus. 

" I myself, myself ! the prophet ! 
When I speak the wigwam trembles. 
Shakes the Sacred Lodge with terror, 135 

Hands unseen begin to shake it ! 
AVhen I walk, the sky I tread on 
Bends and makes a noise beneath me ! 
I can blow you strong, my brother ! 
Eise and speak, Hiawatha ! " 140 

" Hi-au-ha ! '' replied the chorus, 
'' Way-ha-way ! " the mystic chorus. 

Then they shook their medicine-pouches 
O'er the head of Hiawatha, 

Danced their medicine-dance around him ; 145 

And upstarting wild and haggard. 
Like a man from dreams awakened. 
He was healed of all his madness. 
As the clouds are swept from heaven. 
Straightway from his brain de2:)arted 150 

All his moody melancholy ; 
As the ice is swept from rivers. 
Straightway from his heart departed 
All his sorrow and affliction. 

Then they summoned Chibiabos 155 

From his grave beneath the waters. 
From the sands of Gitche Griimee 
Summoned Hiawatha's brother. 

1 In iii. 235 Hiawatha was called Mahu-go-taysee, or Loon Heart. 



IIG THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

And so mighty was the magic 

Of that cry and invocation, 160 

Tiiat he heard it as he lay there 

Underneath the Big- Sea- Water ; 

From the sand he rose and listened. 

Heard the music and the singing, 

Came, obedient to the summons, 165 

To the doorway of the wigwam. 

But to enter they forbade him. 

Through a chink a coal they gave him. 
Through the door a burning fire-brand ; 
Kuler iu the Laml of Spirits, 170 

Ruler o'er the dead, they made him, 
Telling him a fire to kindle 
For all those that died thereafter. 
Camp-fires for their night encampments 
On their solitary journey ' 175 

To the kingdom of Ponemah, 
To the land of the Hereafter. 

From the village of his childhood. 
From the homes of those who knew him, 
Passing silent through the forest, 180 

Like a smoke- wreath wafted sideways. 
Slowly vanished Chibiabos ! 
Where he passed, the branches moved not. 
Where he trod, the grasses bent not. 
And the fallen leaves of last year 185 

Made no sound beneath his footsteps. 

Four whole days he journeyed onward 
Down the pathway of the dead men ; 
On the dead man's strawberry feasted. 
Crossed the melancholy river, 190 

On the swinging log^ he crossed it, 

1 The journey to the hand of spirits is de- of the narrow bridge Al-Sirat, over which 
scribed a few lines below. the Mohammedan must pass on his way to 

2 This dangerous bridge may remind one Paradise. 



HIAWATHA'S LAMENTATION. 117 

Came unto the Lake of Silver, 

III the Stone Canoe ^ was carried 

To the Ishiuds of the Blessed,' 

To the land of ghosts and shadows. 195 

On that journey, moving slowly. 
Many weary spirits saw he. 
Panting under heavy burdens. 
Laden with war-clubs, bows and arrows, 
Eobes of fur, and pots and kettles, 200 

And with food that friends had given 
For that solitary journey/ 

'' Ay ! why do the living," said they, 
" Lay such heavy burdens on us ! 
Better Avere it to go naked, 205 

Better were it to go fasting. 
Than to bear such heavy burdens 
On our long and weary journey ! " 

Forth then issued Hiawatha, 
Wandered eastward, wandered westward, 210 

Teaching men the use of simples^ 
And the antidotes for poisons. 
And the cure of all diseases. 
Thus was first made known to mortals 
All the mystery of Medamin, 215 

All the sacred art of healing. 

1 The legend of the White Stone Canoe is ^ it was the custom of the Indians, as of 
not in "Algic Researches." It is too long various other peoples, to burjMvith the dead 
to tell here, but may be found in School- the articles which would be needful to them 
craft's " Hiawatha Legends," p. 233. in the hereafter. But see xix. 188-204, 

2 See xix. 172-187, and xx, 159, 178, and < or simple remedies of herbs, 
xxii. 245. 



118 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

XVL 

PAU-PUK-KEEWIS. 

You shall hear how Pau-Puk-Keewis 

He, the handsome Yenadizze/ 

Whom the joeople called the Storm Fool, 

Vexed the village with distiirbaDce ; 

You shall hear of all his mischief, 5 

And his flight from Hiawatha, 

And his wondrous transmigrations. 

And the end of his adventures. 

On the shores of Gitche Gumee, 
On the dnnes of Nagow Wndjoo,"^ 10 

By the shining Big-Sea-AVater 
Stood the lodge of Pau-Puk-Keewis. 
It was lie who in his frenzy 
"Whirled these drifting sands together. 
On the dunes of Nagow Wudjoo, 15 

When, among the guests assembled. 
He so merrily and madly 
Danced at Hiawatha's wedding, 
Danced the Beggar's Dance to please them.^ 

Now, in search of new adventures, 20 

From his lodge went Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
Came with speed into the village. 
Found the young men all assembled 
In the lodge of old lagoo, 

Listening to his monstrous stories, 25 

To liis wonderful adventures. 

lie was telling them the story 
Of Ojeeg, the Summer-Maker,* 

1 A Yenadizze is an idle, useless sort of Lake Superior to the east of the Pictured 
vagabond. Rocks. ^ as described in xi. 97-120. 

2 the Grand Sable, on the south shore of * to be found in " Algic Researches,"' i. 57. 



PAU-PUK-KEEWIS. 119 

How he made a hole in heaven. 

How he climbed up into heaven, 30 

And let out the summer- weather. 

The perpetual, pleasant Summer ; 

How the Otter first essayed it ; 

How the Beaver, Lynx, and Badger 

Tried in turn the great achievement, 35 

From the summit of the mountain 

Smote their fists against the heavens, 

Smote against the sky their foreheads, 

Cracked the sky, but could not break it ; 

How the Wolverine, uprising, 40 

Made him ready for the encounter. 

Bent his knees down, like a squirrel. 

Drew his arms back, like a cricket. 

" Once he leaped," said old lagoo, 
'' Once he leaped, and lo ! above him 45 

Bent the sky, as ice in rivers 
When the waters rise beneath it ; 
Twice he leaped, and lo ! above him 
Cracked the sky, as ice in rivers 
When the freshet is at liighest ! 50 

Thrice he leaped, and lo ! above him 
Broke the shattered sky asunder. 
And he disappeared within it. 
And Ojeeg, the Fisher Weasel, 
With a bound went in behind him ! " 55 

" Hark you ! " shouted Pau-Puk-Keewis 
As he entered at the doorway ; 
*' I am tired of all this talking. 
Tired of old lagoo's stories. 

Tired of Hiawatha's wisdom. 60 

Here is something to amuse you. 
Better than tliis endless talking." 

Then from out his pouch of wolf-skin 



120 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Forth lie drew with solemn manner. 
All the game of Bowl and Counters, 
Piigasaing^ with thirteen pieces. 
White on one side were they painted. 
And vermilion on the other ; 
Two Kenabeeks or great serpents, 
Two Ininewng or wedge-men, 
One great war-club, Pugamaugun, 
And one slender fish, the Keego, 
Pour round pieces, OzaAvabeeks, 
And three Sheshebwug or ducklings. 
All were made of bone and painted. 
All except the Ozawabeeks ; 
These Avere brass, on one side burnished, 
And were black upon the other. 

In a wooden bowl he placed them. 
Shook and jostled them together. 
Threw them on the ground before him. 
Thus exclaiming and explaining: 
'' Eed side up are all tlie pieces, 
And one great Kenabeek standing 
On the bright side of a brass piece. 
On a burnished Ozawabeek ; 
Thirteen tens and eight are counted." 

Then again he shook the pieces. 
Shook and jostled them together. 
Threw them on the ground before him, 
Still exclaiming and explaining : 
*' White are both the great Kenabeeks, 
AVhite the Ininewug, the wedge-men, 
Eed are all the other pieces ; 
Five tens and an eight are counted." 

Thus he taught the game of hazard. 
Thus displayed it and explained it, 
Running through its various chances. 



PAU-PUK-KEEWIS. I'^i 

Various cliaiiges, various meanings : 

Twenty curious eyes stared at him, 100 

Full of eagerness stared at him. 

*' Many games," said old lagoo, 
*' Many games of skill and hazard 
Have I seen in different nations. 
Have I played in different countries. 105 

He who plays with old lagoo 
Must have very nimble fingers ; 
Though you think yourself so skilful 
T can beat you, Pau-Piik-Keewis, 
I can even give you lessons 110 

In your game of Bowl and Counters ! " 

So they sat and played together. 
All the old men and the young men, 
Played for dresses, weapons, wampum. 
Played till midnight, played till morning, 115 

Played until the Yenadizze, 
Till the cunning Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
Of their treasures had despoiled them. 
Of the best of all their dresses, 

Shirts of deer-skin, robes of ermine, 120 

Belts of wampum, crests of feathers. 
Warlike weapons, pipes and pouches.' 
Twenty eyes glared wildly at him. 

Like the eyes of wolves glared at him. 

Said the lucky Pau-Puk-Keewis : 125 

'' In my wigwam I am lonely. 

In my wanderings and adventures 

I have need of a companion. 

Fain would have a Meshinauwa, 

An attendant and pipe-bearer. 130 

I will venture all these winnings, 

All these garments heaped about me, 

1 Indians are apt to be great gamesters ; they ^YilI often, as here, gamble away every- 
thing they possess. 



122 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

All this wampum, all these feathers. 

On a single throw will venture 

All against the young man yonder ! " 135 

'Twas a youth of sixteen summers, 

'Twas a nephew of lagoo ; 

Face-in-a-Mist, the people called him. 

As the fire burns in a pipe-head 
Dusky red beneath the ashes, 140 

So beneath his shaggy eyebrows 
GloAved the eyes of old lagoo. 
" Ugh ! " he answered very fiercely ; 
" Ugh ! *' they answered all and each one. 

Seized the wooden bowl the old man, 145 

Closely in his bony fingers 
Clutched the fatal bowl, Onagon, 
Shook it fiercely and with fury. 
Made the pieces ring together 
As he threw them down before him. 150 

Eed were both the great Kenabeeks, 
Ked the Iniuewug, the wedge-men, 
Eed the Sheshebwug, the ducklings. 
Black the four brass Ozawabeeks, 
White alone the fish, the Keego ; 155 

Only five the pieces counted ! 

Then the smiling Pau-Puk-Keewis 
Shook the bowl and threw the pieces ; 
Lightly in the air he tossed them. 
And they fell, about him scattered ; 160 

Dark and bright the Ozawabeeks, 
Eed and white the other pieces. 
And upright among the others 
One Ininewug was standing. 

Even as crafty Pau-Puk-Keewis 165 

Stood alone among the players. 
Saying, " Five tens ! mine the game is ! " 



PAU-PUK-KEEWIS. IZd 

Twenty eyes glared at him fiercely. 
Like the eyes of wolves glared at him, 
As he turned and left the wigwam, 170 

Followed by his Meshinauwa, 
By the nephew of lagoo, 
By the tall and graceful stripling, 
Bearing in his arms the winnings. 
Shirts of deer-skin, robes of ermine, 175 

Belts of wampum, pipes and weapons. 

" Carry them," said Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
Pointing with his fan of feathers, 
" To my wigwam far to eastward. 
On the dunes of Nagow Wudjoo ! " 180 

Hot and red with smoke and gambling ^ 

Were the eyes of Pau-Puk-Keewis 
As he came forth to the freshness 
Of the pleasant Summer morning. 
All the birds Avere singing gayly, 185 

All the streamlets flowing swiftly. 
And the heart of Pau-Puk-Keewis 
Sang with pleasure as the birds sing, 
Beat with triumph like the streamlets. 
As he wandered through the village, 190 

In the early gray of morning, 
With his fan of turkey-feathers, 
AYith his plumes and tufts of swan's down. 
Till he reached the farthest wigwam, 
Eeached the lodge of Hiawatha. 195 

Silent was it and deserted ; 
No one met him at the doorway, 
No one came to bid him welcome ; 
But the birds were singing round it. 
In and out and round the doorway, 200 

Hopping, singing, fluttering, feeding. 
And aloft upon the ridge-pole 



124 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Kahgahgee, the King of Eavens, 

Sat with, fiery eyes, and, screaming, 

Mapped his wings at Pau-Piik-Keewis. 205 

" All are gone ! the lodge is empty ! " 
Thns it was spake Pan-Puk-Keewis, 
In his heart resolving mischief ; — 
" Gone is w^ary Hiawatha, 

Gone the silly Laughing Water, 210 

Gone Nokomis, the old w^oman. 
And the lodge is left unguarded ! " 

By the neck he seized the raven. 
Whirled it round him like a rattle,'' 
Like a medicine-pouch " he shook it, 215 

Strangled Kahgahgee, the raven. 
From the ridge-pole of the wigwam 
Left its lifeless body hanging, 
As an insult to its master. 
As a taunt to Hiawatha. 220 

With a stealthy step he entered. 
Round the lodge in wild disorder 
Threw the household things about him, 
Piled together in confusion 

Bowls of w^ood and earthen kettles, 225 

Eobes of buffalo and beaver. 
Skins of otter, lynx, and ermine. 
As an insult to Nokomis, 
As a taunt to Minnehaha. 

Then departed Pau-Puk-Keewis, 230 

Whistling, singing through the forest, 
Whistling gayly to the squirrels, 
AVho from hollow boughs above him 
Dropped their acorn-shells upon him. 
Singing gayly to the wood-birds, 235 

1 Sec xiii. 156. 2 gee xv. Ill, 143. 



THE HUNTING OF PAU-PUK-KEEWIS. 125 

Who from out the leafy darkness 
Answered with a song as merry. 

Then he climbed the rocky headlands 
Looking o'er the Gitche Gumee, 
Perched himself upon their summit, 240 

Waiting full of mirth and mischief 
The return of Hiawatha. 

Stretched upon his ba'ck he lay there ; 
Far below him plashed the waters, 
Plashed and washed the dreamy waters ; 245 

Far above him swam the heavens. 
Swam the dizzy, dreamy heavens ; 
Pound him hovered, fluttered, rustled, 
Hiawatha's mountain chickens,^ 
Flock-wise swept and wheeled about him, 250 

Almost brushed him with their joinions. 

And he killed them as he lay there. 
Slaughtered them by tens and twenties, 
Threw their bodies down the headland, 
Threw them on the beach below him, 255 

Till at length Kayoshk, the sea-gull,'^ 
Perched upon a crag above them. 
Shouted : "It is Pau-Puk-Keewis ! 
He is slaying us by hundreds ! 

Send a message to our brother, 260 

Tidings send to Hiawatha ! " 

XVII. 

THE HUNTING OF PAU-PUK-KEEWIS. 

Full of wrath was Hiawatha 
When he came into the village. 
Found the people in confusion, 

» See iii. 150. 2 gge viii. 184. 



126 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Heard of all the misdemeanors, 

All the malice and the mischief, ^ 

Of the cunning Pan-Puk-Keewis. 

Hard his breath came through his nostrils. 
Through his teeth he buzzed and muftered 
Words of anger and resentment. 
Hot and humming, like a hornet. 10 

*'I will slay this Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
kSlay this mischief-maker ! " said he. 
" Not so long and wide the world is, 
Not so rude and rough the way is. 
That my wrath shall not attain him, 15 

That my vengeance shall not reach him ! " 

Then in swift j)ursuit departed 
Hiawatha and the hunters 
On the trail of Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
Through the forest, where he passed it, 20 

To the headlands where he rested ; 
But they found not Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
Only in the trampled grasses. 
In the whortleberry-bushes. 

Found the couch where he had rested, 25 

Found the impress of his body. 

From the lowlands far beneath them, 
From the Mnskoday, the meadow, 
Pau-Puk-Keewis, turning backward, 
Made a gesture of defiance, 30 

Made a gesture of derision ; 
And aloud cried Hiawatha, 
From the summit of the mountain : 
" Not so long and wide the world is. 
Not so rude and rough the way is, 35 

But my wrath shall overtake you, 
And my vengeance shall attain you ! " 

Over rock and over river. 



THE HUNTING OF PAU-PUK-KEEWIS. 127 

Thorough bush, and brake, and forest, 

Ran the canning Pau-Puk-Keewis ; 40 

Like an antelope he bounded, 

Till he came unto a streamlet 

In the middle of the forest. 

To a streamlet still and tranquil. 

That had overflowed its margin, 45 

To a dam made by the beavers. 

To a pond of quiet water,' 

Where knee-deep the trees were standing, 

Where the water-lilies floated. 

Where the rushes waved and whispered. 50 

On the dam stood Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
On the dam of trunks and branches. 
Through whose chinks the water spouted. 
O'er whose summit flowed the streamlet. 
From the bottom rose a beaver, 55 

Looked with two great eyes of wonder. 
Eyes that seemed to ask a question. 
At the stranger, Pau-Puk-Keewis. 

On the dam stood Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
O'er his ankles flowed the streamlet, 60 

Flowed the bright and silvery water, 
And he spake unto the beaver. 
With a smile he spake in this wise : 

*' my friend Ahmeek, the beaver. 
Cool and pleasant is the water, 65 

Let me dive into the water. 
Let me rest there in your lodges ; 
Change me, too, into a beaver ! " 

Cautiously replied the beaver. 
With reserve he thus made answer : 7u 

** Let me first consult the others, 

» The beaver is one of the most ingenious deep, quiet water in which to build his 
of builders. He dams up a stream to make house. 



128 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Let me ask the other beavers." 

Down he sank into the water. 

Heavily sank he, as a stone sinks, 

Down among the leaves and branches, 75 

Brown and matted at the bottom. 

On the dam stood Paii-Puk-Keewis, 
O'er his ankles flowed the streamlet. 
Spouted through the chinks below him. 
Dashed upon the stones beneath him, 80 

Spread serene and calm before him. 
And the sunshine and the shadows 
Fell in flecks and gleams upon him. 
Fell iu little shining patches. 
Through the waving, rustling branches. 85 

From the bottom rose the beavers. 
Silently above the surface 
Eose one head and then another. 
Till the pond seemed full of beavers. 
Full of black and shining faces. 90 

To the beavers Pau-Puk-Keewis 
Spake entreating, said in this wise : 
*' Very pleasant is your dwelling, 
my friends ! and safe from danger ; 
Can you not with all your cunning, 95 

All your wisdom and contrivance. 
Change me, too, into a beaver ? " 

" Yes ! " replied Ah meek, the beaver. 
He the King of all the beavers, 

" Let yourself slide down among us, 100 

Down into the tranquil water." 

Down into the pond among them 
Silently sank Pau-Puk-Keewis ; 
Black became his shirt of deer-skin. 
Black his moccasins and leggings, 105 

In a broad black tail behind him 



THE HUNTING OF PAU-PUK-KEEWIS. 129 

Spread his fox-tails and his fringes ; 
He was changed into a beaver. 

'^ Make ine large," said Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
*^ Make me large and make me larger, 110 

Larger than the other beavers." 
"Yes," the beaver chief responded, 
*' When onr lodge below you enter 
In onr wigwam we will make you 
Ten times larger than the others." 115 

Thus into the clear brown water 
Silently sank Pau-Pnk-Keewis ; 
Found the bottom covered over 
With the trunks of trees and branches. 
Hoards of food against the winter,' 120 

Piles and heaps against the famiue, 
Found the lodge with arching doorway. 
Leading into spacious chambers. 

Here they made him large and larger. 
Made him largest of the beavers, 125 

Ten times larger than the others, 
" Yon shall be onr ruler," said they ; 
*' Chief and king of all the beavers." 

But not long had Pau-Puk-Keewis 
Sat in state among the beavers, 130 

When there came a voice of Avarning 
From the watchman at his station 
In the water-flags and lilies, 
Sayiug, " Here is Hiawatha ! 
Hiawatha w^itli his hunters ! " 135 

Then they heard a cry above them. 
Heard a shouting and a tramping. 
Heard a crashing and a rushing. 
And the water round and o'er them 

1 The beaver's food is the bark of trees. 



180 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Sank and sucked away in eddies, 140 

And they knew their dam was broken.^ 

On the lodge's roof the hunters 
Leaped, and broke it all asunder ; 
Streamed the sunshine through the crevice, 
Sprang the beavers through the doorway, 145 

Hid themselves in deeper water, 
In the channel of the streamlet ; 
But the mighty Pau-Puk-Keewis 
Could not pass beneath the doorway ; 
He was pulfed with pride and feeding, 150 

He w^as swollen like a bladder. 

Through the roof looked Hiawatha, 
Cried aloud, " Pau-Puk-Keewis ! 
Vain are all your craft and cunning. 
Vain your manifold disguises! 155 

Well I know you, Pau-Puk-Keewis ! " 

With their clubs they beat and bruised him. 
Beat to deatli poor Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
Pounded him as maize is pounded,'^ 
Till his skull was crushed to pieces. 160 

Six tall hunters, lithe and limber. 
Bore him home on poles and branches. 
Bore the body of the beaver ; 
But the ghost, the Jeebi in him. 
Thought and felt as Pau-Puk-Keewis, 165 

Still lived on as Pau-Puk-Keewis. 

And it fluttered, strove, and struggled. 
Waving hither, waving thither. 
As the curtains of a wigwam ^ 

Struggle with their thongs of deer-skin, 170 

When the wintry wind is blowing ; 

» When the dam is broken, the stream 2 The Indians pound the dry com as we 
flows on as before, and the beaver's house grind it. 
is exposed. 3 gee 1. 237 below. 



THE HUNTING OF PAU-PUK-KEEWIS, 131 

Till it drew itself together. 

Till it rose up from the body, 

Till it took the form and features 

Of the cunning Pau-Puk-Keewis ^ 175 

Vanishiug into the forest. 

But the wary Hiawatha 
Saw the figure ere it vanished, 
Saw the form of Pau-Ptik-Keewis 
Glide into the soft blue shadow 180 

Of the pine-trees of the forest : 
Toward the squares of white ^ beyond it. 
Toward an opening in the forest. 
Like a wind it rushed and panted. 
Bending all the boughs before it, 185 

And behind it, as the rain comes. 
Came the steps of Hiawatha. 

To a lake with many islands 
Came the breathless Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
"Where among the water-lilies 190 

Pishnekuh, the brant, were sailing ; 
Through the tufts of rushes floating. 
Steering through the reedy islands. 
Now their broad black beaks they lifted, 
Now they plunged beneath the water, 195 

Now they darkened in the shadow. 
Now they brightened in the sunshine. 

'' Pishnekuh !" cried Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
" Pishnekuh ! my brothers ! " said he, 
*' Change me to a brant with plumage, 200 

AVith a shining neck and feathers, 
Make me large, and make me larger. 
Ten times larger than the others." 

1 The Indian legend (in " Algic Re- ^ you may seethe "squares of white" by 
searches "") says, " As soon as his flesh got loolcing through a belt of pine-trees to the 
cold, hie Jee-bi went off." sunlit open country beyond. 



132 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Straightway to a brant they changed him, 
AVith two hnge and dusky pinions, 205 

With a bosom smooth and rounded, 
With a bill like two great paddles. 
Made him larger than the others, 
Ten times larger than the largest. 
Just as, shouting from the forest, 210 

On the shore stood Hiawatha. 

Up they rose wdth cry and clamor. 
With a whirr and beat of pinions, 
Eose up from the reedy islands, 

Erom the water-flags and lilies. 215 

And they said to Pau-Puk-Keewis : 
''In your flying, look not downward. 
Take good heed and look not downward. 
Lest some strange mischance should happen, 
Lest some great mishap befall you ! " 220 

Past and far they fled to northward. 
Past and far through mist and sunshine, 
Ped among the moor and fen-lands 
Slept among the reeds and rushes. 

On the morrow as they journeyed, 225 

Buoyed and lifted by the South-wind, 
Wafted onward by the South-wind, 
Blowing fresh and strong behind them, 
Eose a sound of human voices, 

Eose a clamor from beneath them, 230 

Prom the lodges of a village. 
Prom the people miles beneath them. 

Por the people of the village 
Saw the flock of brant with wonder. 
Saw the wiugs of Pau-Puk-Keewis 235 

Plapping far up in the ether, 
Broader than two doorway curtains/ 

1 the doors of an Indian lodge. 



THE HUNTING OF PAU-PUK KEEWIS. 13o 

Paii-Puk-Keewis heard the shouting, 
Knew the voice of Hiawatha, 

Knew the outcry of lagoo, 240 

And, forgetful of the warning. 
Drew his neck in, and looked downward. 
And the wind that blew behind him 
Caught his mighty fan of feathers, 
Sent him wheeling, whirling downward ! 245 

All in vain did Pau-Puk-Keewis 
Struggle to regain his balance ! 
Whirling round and round and downward. 
He beheld in turn the village 

And in turn the flock above him, 250 

Saw the village coming nearer. 
And the flock receding farther, 
Heard the voices growing louder. 
Heard the shouting and the laughter ; 
Saw no more the flock above him, 255 

Only saw the earth beneath him ; 
Dead out of the empty heaven. 
Dead among the shouting people. 
With a heavy sound and sullen. 
Fell the brant with broken pinions. 260 

But his soul, his ghost, his shadow. 
Still survived as Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
Took again the form and features 
Of the handsome Yenadizze, 

And again went rushing onward, 265 

Followed fast by Hiawatha, 
Crying : " Not so wide the world is, 
Not so long and rough the way is. 
But my wrath will overtake you. 
But my vengeance shall attain you ! " 270 

And so near he came, so near him, 
That his hand was stretched to seize him, 



134 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

His right hand to seize and hold him. 

When the cunning Pau-Pnk-Keewis 

Whirled and spun about in circles, 275 

Eanned the air into a whirlwind. 

Danced the dust and leaves about him, 

And amid the whirling eddies 

Sprang into a hollow oak-tree. 

Changed himself into a serpent, 280 

Gliding out through root and rubbish. 

With his right hand Hiawatha 
Smote amain the hollow oak-tree. 
Rent it into shreds and splinters. 
Left it lying there in fragments. 285 

But in vain ; for Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
Once again in human figure. 
Pull in sight ran on before him. 
Sped away in gust and whirlwind. 
On the shores of Gitche Gumee, 290 

Westward by the Big-Sea- Water, 
Came unto the rocky headlands. 
To the Pictured Rocks of sandstone,^ 
Looking over lake and landscape. 

And the Old Man of the Mountain, 295 

He the Manito of Mountains, 
Opened wide his rocky doorways. 
Opened wide his deep abysses. 
Giving Pau-Puk-Keewis shelter 

In his caverns dark and dreary, 300 

Bidding Pau-Puk-Keewis welcome 
To his gloomy lodge of sandstone. 

There without stood Hiawatha, 
Found the doorways closed against him, 
AVith his mittens, Minjekahwun,^ 305 

1 These renitarkablc rocka arc ou the south shore of Luke Superior in Alger County, 
Michigan. 2 gee iv. 16. 



THE HUNTING OF PAU-PUK-KEEWIS. 135 

Smote great caverns in the sandstone. 

Cried aloud in tones of thunder, 

"Open! I am Hiawatha ! " 

Bat the Old Man of the Mountain 

Opened not, and made no answer 310 

From the silent crags of sandstone. 

From the gloomy rock abysses. 

Then he raised his hands to heaven. 
Called imploring on the tempest. 
Called Waywassimo, the lightning, 315 

And the thunder, Annemeekee ; 
And they came with night and darkness. 
Sweeping down the Big-Sea- Water 
From the distant Thunder Mountains ; 
And the trembling Pau-Puk-Keewis 320 

Heard the footsteps of the thunder. 
Saw the red eyes of the lightning. 
Was afraid, and crouched and trembled. 

Then Waywassimo, the lightning. 
Smote the doorways of the caverns, 325 

With his war-club smote the doorways. 
Smote the jutting crags of sandstone. 
And the thunder, Annemeekee, 
Shouted down into the caverns, 

Saying, " Where is Pau-Puk-Keewis ? " _^ 330 

And the crags fell, and beneath them 
Dead among the rocky ruins 
Lay the cunning Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
Lay the handsome Yenadizze, 
Slain in his own human figure.' 335 

Ended were his wild adventures. 
Ended were his tricks and gambols. 
Ended all his craft and cunning. 
Ended all his mischief-making, 

1 Only when slain in his own figure was he really dead. 



186 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

All his gambling and bis dancing, 340 

All bis wooing of tbe maidens. 

Then tbe noble Hiawatba 
Took bis soul, bis gbost, bis sbadow, 
Spake and said : ''0 Pau-Puk-Keewis, 
Is^ever more in buman figure 345 

Sball you searcb for new adventures ; 
Never more witli jest and laugbter 
Dance tbe dust and leaves in whirlwinds ; 
But above there in tbe heavens 

You sball soar and sail in circles ; 350 

I will change j^ou to an eagle. 
To Kenen, the great war-eagle,* 
Chief of all the fowls with feathers, 
Chief of Hiawatha's chickens." 

And tbe name of Pau-Puk-Keewis 355 

Lingers still among tbe people. 
Lingers still among tbe singers. 
And among the story-tellers ; 
And in Winter, when tbe snow-flakes 
Whirl in eddies round the lodges, 360 

When the wind in gusty tumult 
O'er tbe smoke-flue pipes and whistles, 
*' There," they cry, '' comes Pau-Puk-Keewis ; 
He is dancing through the village, 
He is gathering in bis harvest ! " 365 

XVIII. 

THE DEATH OF KWASIND. 

Far and wide among the nations 
Spread the name and fame of Kwasind ; 
No man dared to strive with Kwasind, 

1 See ix. 258, 



THE DEATH OF KWASIND. 137 

No man could compete with Kwasind. 

But the mischievous Puk-Wudjies, 5 

They tlie envious Little People/ 

They the fairies and the pygmies, 

Plotted and conspired against him. 

*' If this hateful Kwasind," said they,' 
'' If this great, outrageous fellow 10 

Goes on thus a little longer. 
Tearing everything he touches. 
Rending everything to pieces. 
Filling all the world with wonder. 
What becomes of the Puk-Wudjies ? 15 

Who will care for the Puk-Wudjies? 

He will tread us down like mushrooms. 

Drive us all into the water. 

Give our bodies to be eaten 

By the wicked Nee-ba-naw-baigs, ^0 

By the Spirits of the water! " 
So the angry Little People 

All conspired against the Strong Man, 

All conspired to murder Kwasind. 

Yes, to rid the world of Kwasind, -^5 

The audacious, overbearing. 

Heartless, haughty, dangerous Kwasind ! 
Now this wondrous strength of Kwasind 

In his crown alone was seated ; 

In his crown too was his weakness ; * 30 

There alone could he be wounded, 

Nowhere else could weapon pierce him. 

Nowhere else could weapon harm him. 
Even there the only weapon 

That could wound liim, that could slay him, 35 

1 The IndianB accounted for the existence taken from the legend of Kwasind, " Algic 
of the " Little People '' by the tale of Osseo. Researches," ii. 160. 

See sii. 30-301. ' So it had been with the Pearl-Feather, 

2 The jealousy of the " Little People " is ix. 311. 



188 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Was the seed-cone of the pine-tree/ 

Was the blue-cone of the lir-tree. 

This was Kwasind's fatal secret, 

Known to no man among mortals ; 

But the cunning Little PeoplCy 40 

The Puk-Wudjies, knew the secret. 

Knew the only Avay to kill him. 

So they gathered cones together. 
Gathered seed-cones of the pine-tree. 
Gathered blue-cones of the lir-tree^, 45 

In the woods by Taquamenaw/ 
Brought them to the river's margin. 
Heaped them in great piles together. 
Where the red rocks from the margin 
Jutting overhang the river. 50 

There they lay in wait for Kwasind, 
The malicious Little People. 

'Twas an afternoon in Summer ; 
Very hot and still the air was. 

Very smooth the gliding river, 55 

Motionless the sleeping shadows ; 
Insects glistened in the sunshine. 
Insects skated on the water. 
Filled the drowsy air with buzzing. 
With a far- resounding war-cry. 60 

Down the river came the Strong Man, 
In his birch canoe came Kwasind, 
Pleating slowly down the current 
Of the sluggish Taquamenaw, 

Very languid Avith the weather, 65 

Very sleepy with the silence. 

Prom the overhanging branches. 
Prom the tassels of the birch -trees, 

1 The idea that a hero could be slain only by some singular weapon is also seen in the 
combat between Hiawatha and Mudjekeewis. See especially iv. 121, 135, 2 gee vii. 17. 



THE DEATH OF KWASIND. 139 

Soft the Spirit of Sleep descended ; 

By his aiiy hosts surrounded, 70 

His invisible attendants. 

Came the Spirit of Sleep, Nepahwin ; 

Like the bnrnished Dush-kwo-ne-she, 

Like a dragon-fly, he hovered 

O'er the drowsy head of Kwasind. 75 

To his ear there came a murmur 
As of waves upon a sea-shore. 
As of far-off tumbling waters. 
As of winds among the pine-trees ; 
And he felt upon his forehead 80 

Blows of little airy war-clubs. 
Wielded by the slumbrous legions 
Of the Spirit of Sleep, Nepahwin, 
As of some one breathing on him. 

At the first blow of their war-clubs, 85 

Fell a drowsiness on Kwasind ; 
At the second blow they smote him, 
Motionless his paddle rested ; 
At the third, before his vision 

Keeled the landscape into darkness, 90 

Very sound asleep was Kwasind. 

So he floated down the river. 
Like a blind man seated upright, 
Floated down the Taquamenaw, 

Underneath the trembling birch-trees.^ 95 

Underneath the wooded headlands. 
Underneath the war encampment 
Of the pygmies, the Puk-Wddjies. 

There they stood, all armed and waiting, 
Hurled the pine-cones down upon him, 100 

Struck him on his brawny shoulders. 
On his crown defenceless struck him. 

1 See iii. 208. 



140 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

'' Death to Kwasind ! " was the sudden 
War-cry of the Little People. 

And he sideways swayed and tumbled, 105 

Sideways fell into the river. 
Plunged beneath the sluggish water 
Headlong, as an otter j^lunges ; 
And the birch canoe, abandoned. 
Drifted empty down the river, 110 

Bottom upward swerved and drifted : 
Nothing more was seen of Kwasind. 

But the memory of the Strong Man 
Lingered long among the people. 
And whenever through the forest 115 

Raged and roared the wintry tempest. 
And tlie branches, tossed and troubled. 
Creaked and groaned and split asunder, 
''Kwasind ! " cried they ; '^ that is Kwasind ! 
He is gathering in his fire-wood ! " 120 



XIX. 

THE GHOSTS. 

Never stoops the soaring vulture 
On his quarry in the desert, 
On the sick or wounded bison, 
But another vulture, watching 

From his high aerial look-out, 6 

Sees the downward plunge and follows ; 
And a third pursues the second. 
Coming from the invisible ether, 
First a speck, and then a vulture, 
Till the air is dark with pinions. 10 

So disasters come not singly ; 



THE GHOSTS. 141 

Bat as if tliey watched and waited. 

Scanning one another's motions, 

When the first descends, the others 

Follow, follow, gathering flock-Avdse 15 

Eound their victim, sick and wounded. 

First a shadow, then a sorrow. 

Till the air is dark with anguish. 

Now, o'er all the dreary North-land, 
Mighty Peboan, the Winter, 30 

Breathing on the lakes and rivers. 
Into stone had changed their waters. 
From his hair he shook the snow-flakes, 
Till the plains were strewn with whiteness. 
One uninterrupted level, 25 

As if, stooping, the Creator 
AYith his hand had smoothed them over. 

Through the forest, wide and wailing, 
Eoamed the hunter on his snow-shoes ; 
In the village worked the women, 30 

Pounded maize, or dressed the deer-skin ; 
And the young men played together 
On the ice the noisy ball-play. 
On the plain the dance of snow-shoes. 

One dark evening, after sundown, 35 

In her wigwam Laughing Water 
Sat with old Nokomis, waiting 
For the steps of Hiawatha 
Homeward from the hunt returning. 

On their faces gleamed the fire-light, 40 

Painting them with streaks of crimson. 
In the eyes of old Nokomis 
Glimmered like the watery moonlight. 
In the eyes of Laughing Water 

Glistened like the sun in water ; 45 

And behind them crouched their shadows 



142 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

In the corners of the wigwam, 

And the smoke in wreaths above them 

Climbed and crowded through the smoke-flue.^ 

Then the curtain of the doorway 50 

From without was slowly lifted ; 
Brighter glowed the fire a moment, 
And a moment swerved the smoke-wreath. 
As two women entered softly, 

Passed the doorway uninvited, 55 

"Without word of salutation. 
Without sign of recognition. 
Sat down in the farthest corner. 
Crouching low among the shadows.** 

From their aspect and their garments, 60 

Strangers seemed they in the village ; 
Very pale and haggard were they. 
As they sat there sad and silent, 
Trembling, cowering with the shadows. 

Was it the wind above the smoke-flue, 65 

Muttering down into the wigwam ? 
Was it the owl, the Koko-koho, 
Hooting from the dismal forest ? 
Sure a voice said in the silence : 

" These are corpses clad in garments, 70 

These are ghosts that come to haunt you. 
From the kingdom of Ponemah, 
From the land of the Hereafter ! " 

Homeward now came Hiawatha 
From his hunting in the forest, 75 

With the snow upon his tresses, 

1 An Indian lodge of deerskin has two 2 in theory any stranger is welcome in an 

flaps or ears at the top, one at each side. Indian lodge. He has but to enter, take his 

According as the wind blows, one or the seat, and make his wants known. These, 

other of these is extended as a sort of rough however, were no ordinary guests. 
chimney, to make a draft and carry away 
the smoke. 



THE GHOSTS. 143 

And the red deer on his shonlders. 

At the feet of Laughing Water 

Down he threw his lifeless burden ; 

Nobler, handsomer she thought him, 80 

Than when first he came to woo her. 

First threw down the deer before her. 

As a token of his wishes. 

As a promise of the future. 

Then he turned and saw the strangers, 85 

Cowering, crouching with tiie shadows ; 
Said within himself, " Who are they? 
What strange guests has Minnehaha ? " 
But he questioned not the strangers. 
Only spake to bid them welcome 90 

To his lodge, his food, his fireside. 

When the evening meal was ready. 
And the deer had been divided. 
Both the pallid guests, the strangers. 
Springing from among the shadows, 95 

Seized upon the choicest portions. 
Seized the white fat of the roebuck. 
Set apart for Laughing Water, 
For the wife of Hiawatha ; 

Without asking, without thanking, 100 

Eagerly devoured the morsels, 
Flitted back among the shadows 
In the corner of the wigwam. 

Not a word spake Hiawatha, 
Not a motion made Nokomis, 105 

Not a gesture Laughing Water ; 
Not a change came o'er their features ; * 
Only Minnehaha softly 
Whispered, saying, " They are famished ; 

* It would have been most uncivil to comment on the behavior of guests. 



144 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Let them do what "best delig-hts them ; 110 

Let them eat, for they are famished." 

Many a daylight dawned and darkened. 
Many a night shook off the daylight 
As the pine shakes oS the snow-flakes 
From the midnight of its branches ; 115 

Day by day the gaiests nnmoving 
Sat there silent in the wigwam ; 
But by night, in storm or starlight. 
Forth they went into the forest, 

Bringing fire-wood to the wigwam, 120 

Bringing pine-cones for the burning. 
Always sad and always silent. 

And whenever Hiawatha 
Came from fishing or from hunting. 
When the evening meal was ready, 125 

And the food had been divided. 
Gliding from their darksome corner. 
Came the pallid guests, the strangers. 
Seized upon the choicest portions 
Set aside for Langhing Water, 130 

And without rebuke or question 
Flitted back among the shadows. 

Never once had Hiawatha 
By a word or look reproved them ; 
Never once had old Nokomis 135 

Made a gesture of impatience ; 
Never once had Laughing Water 
Shown resentment at the outrage. 
All had they endured in silence. 
That the rights of guest and stranger, 140 

That the virtue of free-giving, 
By a look might not be lessened. 
By a word might not be broken. 

Once at midnight Hiawatha, 



THE GHOSTS. 145 

Ever wakeful^ ever watchful, 145 

In the wigwam, dimly lighted 

By the brands that still were burning. 

By the glimmering, flickering fire-light. 

Heard a sighing, oft repeated. 

Heard a sobbing, as of sorrow. 150 

From his couch rose Hiawatha, 
From his shaggy hides of bison. 
Pushed aside the deer-skin curtain. 
Saw the pallid guests, the shadows. 
Sitting upright on their couches, 155 

Weeping in the silent midnight. 

And he said : '' guests ! why is it 
That your hearts are so afflicted, 
That you sob so in the midnight ? 
Has perchance the old Nokomis, 160 

Has my wife, my Minnehaha, 
Wronged or grieved you by unkindness. 
Failed in hospitable duties? " 

Then the shadows ceased from weeping. 
Ceased from sobbing and lamenting, 165 

And they said with gentle voices ! 
" AYe are ghosts of the departed. 
Souls of those who once were with you. 
From the realms of Chibiabos ' 

Hither have we come to try you, 170 

Hither have we come to warn you. 

" Cries of grief and lamentation 
Reach us in the Blessed Islands ; 
Cries of anguish from the living. 
Calling back their friends departed, 175 

Sadden us with useless sorrow. 
Therefore have we come to try you ; 
No one knows us, no one heeds us. 

» See sv. 155, 170. 

10 



146 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

We are but a burden to yon^ 

And we see that tlie departed 180 

Have no place among the living. 

" Think of this, Hiawatha ! 
Speak of ifc to all the people. 
That henceforward and forever 

They no more with lamentations 185 

Sadden the souls of the departed 
In the Islands of the Blessed. 

" Do not lay such heavy burdens 
In the graves of those you bury/ 
Not such weight of furs and wampum, 190 

'Not such weight of pots and kettles. 
For the spirits faint beneath them. 
Only give them food to carry. 
Only give them lire to light them. 

" Four days is the spirit's journey 195 

To the land of ghosts and shadows, 
Four its lonely night encampments ; 
Four times must their fires be lighted. 
Therefore, when the dead are buried. 
Let a fire, as night approaches, 200 

Four times on the grave be kindled. 
That the soul upon its journey 
May not lack the cheerful fire-light. 
May not grope about in darkness. 

"Farewell, noble Hiawatha ! 205 

AYe have put you to the trial. 
To the proof have put your patience. 
By the insult of our presence, 
By the outrage of our actions. 

We have found you great and noble. 210 

Fail not in the greater trial, 
Faint not in the harder struggle." 

1 See XV. 196-208. 



THE FAMINE. 147 

When they ceased, a sudden darkness 
Fell and filled the silent wigwam. 
Hiawatha heard a rustle 215 

As of garments trailing by him. 
Heard the curtain of the doorway 
Lifted by a hand he saw not, 
Felt the cold breath of the night air. 
For a moment saw the starlight ; 220 

But he saw the ghosts no longer. 
Saw no more the wandering spirits 
From the kingdom of Ponemah, 
From the land of the Hereafter. 



XX. 

THE FAMINE. 

the long and dreary Winter ! 

the cold and cruel Winter ! 

Ever thicker, thicker, thicker 

Froze the ice on lake and river. 

Ever deeper, deeper, deeper 5 

Fell the snow o'er all the landscape. 

Fell the covering snow, and drifted 

Through the forest, round the village. 

Hardly from his buried wigwam . 
Could the hunter force a passage ; 10 

With his mittens and his snow-shoes 
Vainly walked he through the forest. 
Sought for bird or beast and found none. 
Saw no track of deer or rabbit. 

In the snow beheld no footprints, 15 

In tlie ghastly, gleaming forest 
Fell, and could not rise from weakness. 
Perished there from cold and hunger. 



14:8 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

the famine and the fever ! 
the wasting of the famine ! 20 

the blasting of the fever ! 
the wailing of the children ! 

the angnish of the women ! 

All the earth was sick and famished ; 
Hnngry was the air around them, 25 

Hungry was the sky above them. 
And the hungry stars in heaven 
Like the eyes of wolves glared at them ! 

Into Hiawatha's wigwam 
Came two other guests, as silent 30 

As the ghosts were, and as gloomy. 
Waited not to be invited. 
Did not parley at the doorway. 
Sat there without word of welcome 
In the seat of Laughing Water ; 35 

Looked with haggard eyes and hollow 
At the face of Laughing Water. 

And the foremost said : " Behold me ! 

1 am Famine, Bukadawin ! " 

And the other said : ^' Behold me ! 40 

I am Fever, Ahkosewin ! " 

And the lovely Minnehaha 
Shuddered as they looked upon her. 
Shuddered at the words they uttered. 
Lay down on her bed in silence, 45 

Hid her face, but made no answer. 
Lay there trembling, freezing, burning 
x\t the looks they cast upon her, 
At the fearful words they uttered. 

Forth into the empty. forest 50 

Bushed the maddened Hiawatha ; 
In his heart was deadly sorrow. 
In his face a stony firmness ; 



THE FAMINE. 149 

Ou liis brow the sweat of anguish 

Started, but it froze and fell not. 55 

Wrapped in furs and armed for hunting. 
With his mighty bow of ash-tree. 
With his quiver full of arrows, 
With his mittens, Minjekahwun, 
Into the vast and vacant forest 60 

On his snow-shoes strode he forward. 

'' Gitche Manito, the Mighty ! " 
Cried he with his face uplifted 
In that bitter hour of anguish, 

** Give your children food, father! 65 

Give us food, or we must perish ! 
Give me food for Minnehaha ! 
For my dying Minnehaha ! " 

Through the far-resounding forest. 
Through the forest vast and vacant 70 

Rang that cry of desolation. 
But there came no other answer 
Than the echo of his crying. 
Than the echo of the woodlands, 
" Minnehaha ! Minnehaha ! " 75 

All day long roved Hiawatha 
In that melancholy forest, 
Through the shadow of whose thickets, 
In the pleasant days of Summer, 
Of that ne'er forgotten Summer, 80 

He had brought his young wife homeward 
From the land of the Dacotahs ; 
When the birds sang in the thickets, 
And the streamlets laughed and glistened. 
And the air was full of fragrance, 85 

And the lovely Laughing Water 
Said with voice that did not tremble, 
^' I will follow you, my husband ! " ^ 

1 See X. 194 and 223. 



150 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

In the wigwam with Nokomis^ 
With those gloomy guests, that watched her, 90 

With the Famine and the Fever, 
She was lying, the Beloved, 
She the dying Minnehaha. 

'^ Hark ! " she said ; " I hear a rushing, 
Hear a roaring and a rushing, 95 

Hear the Falls of Minnehaha' 
Calling to me from a distance ! " 
'' No, my child ! " said old Nokomis, 
" 'Tis the night- wind in the pine-trees ! ' 

" Look ! " she said ; '' I see my father 100 

Standing lonely ab his doorway. 
Beckoning to me from his wigwam 
In the land of the Dacotahs ! " ' 
" No, my child ! " said old Nokomis, 
" 'Tis the smoke, that waves and beckons ! " 105 

'' Ah ! " she said, '*' the eyes of Pauguk' 
Glare upon me in the darkness, 
I can feel his icy fingers 
Clasping mine amid the darkness ! 
Hiawatha ! Hiawatha ! " 110 

And the desolate Hiawatha, 
Far away amid the forest. 
Miles away among the mountains. 
Heard that sudden cry of anguish, 
Heard the voice of Minnehaha 115 

Calling to him in the darkness, 
*' Hiawatha ! Hiawatha ! " • 

Over snow-fields w^aste and pathless, 

1 See iv. 255, 257, 206, 267, and x. 82. dicative of death. Some accounts repre- 

2 See iv. 229. " Pauguk is represented as sent liim as covered witii a thin, transparent 
a hunter. lie is armed with a bow and skin, with the sockets of his eyes filled with 
arrows, or a pugamauguu (see ix. 43) or balls of fire." (Schoolcraft : " The Hia- 
war-club. Instead of objects of the chase, watha Legends," p. 189.) Pauguk is also 
men, women, and children are substituted thought of as a skeleton. 

as the objects of pursuit. To see him is in- 



THE FAMINE. 151 

Under snow-encumbered branches. 

Homeward liurried Hiawatha, 120 

Empty-handed, heavy-hearted, 

Heard Nokomis moaning, wailing : 

" Wahonowin ! Wahonowin ! ' 

Would that I had perished for you. 

Would that I were dead as you are ! 125 

Wahonowin ! Wahonowin ! " 

And. he rushed into the wigwam. 
Saw the old Nokomis slowly 
Eocking to and fro and moaning. 
Saw liis lovely Minnehaha 130 

Lying dead and cold before him. 
And his bursting heart within him 
Uttered such a cry of anguish. 
That the forest moaned and shuddered. 
That the very stars in heaven 135 

Shook and trembled with his anguish. 

Then he sat down, still and speechless. 
On the bed of Minnehaha, 
At the feet of Laughing Water, 

At those willing feet, that never 140 

More would lightly run to meet him, 
Never more would lightly follow. 

Witli both hands his face he covered. 
Seven long days and nights he sat there, 
As if in a swoon he sat there, 145 

Speechless, motionless, nnconscious 
Of the daylight or the darkness. 

Then they buried Minnehaha ; 
In the snow a grave they made her. 
In the forest deep and darksome, 150 

Underneath the moaning hemlocks ; 
Clothed her in her richest garments, 

1 See iii. 63. 



152 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Wrapped her iu her robes ot ermine, 

Covered her with snow, like ermine ; 

Thus they buried Minnehaha. 155 

And at night a fire was lighted, 
On her grave four times was kindled. 
For her soul upon its journey. 
To the Islands of the Blessed. 

From his doorway Hiawatha 160 

Saw it burning in the forest, 
Lighting up the gloomy hemlocks ; 
From his sleepless bed uprising. 
From the bed of Minnehaha, 

Stood and watched it at the doorway, 165 

That it might not be extinguished. 
Might not leave her in the darkness. 

'' Farewell ! " said he, " Minnehaha ! 
Farewell, my Laughing Water ! 
All my heart is buried with you, 170 

All my thoughts go onward with you ! 
Come not back again to labor. 
Come not back again to suSer, 
Where the Famine and the Fever 
W^ear the heart and waste the body. 175 

Soon my task will be completed. 
Soon your footsteps I shall follow 
To the Islands of the Blessed, 
To the Kingdom of Ponemah, 
To the Land of the Hereafter ! '» 180 



THE WHITE MANS FOOT. 153 

XXI. 

THE WHITE man's FOOT.* 

In his lodge beside a river, 

Close beside a frozen river. 

Sat an old man sad and lonely. 

White his hair was as a snow-drift ; 

Dull and low his fire was burning, 5 

And the old man shook and trembled, 

Folded in his Waubewyon, 

In his tattered white-skin-wrapper. 

Hearing nothing but the tempest 

As it roared along the forest, 10 

Seeing nothing but the snow-storm. 

As it whirled and hissed and drifted. 

All the coals were white with ashes. 
And the fire was slowly dying, 

As a young man, walking lightly, 15 

At the open doorway entered. 
Eed with blood of youth his cheeks were. 
Soft his eyes as stars in Spring-time, 
Bound his forehead was with grasses. 
Bound and plumed with scented grasses ; 20 

On his lips a smile of beauty, 
Pilling all the lodge with sunshine. 
In his hand a bunch of blossoms 
Filling all the lodge with sweetness. 

" Ah, my son ! " exclaimed the old man, 25 

" Happy are my eyes to see you. 
Sit here on the mat beside me, 
Sit here by the dying embers. 
Let us pass the night together. 
Tell me of your strange adventures, 30 

The part begins with the tale of Peboan and Segwun, Winter and Spring. 



154 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Of the lands where you have travelled ; 
I will tell you of my prowess. 
Of my many deeds of wonder." 

From his pouch he drew his peace-pipe. 
Very old and strangely fashioned ; 35 

Made of red stone was the pipe -head,' 
And the stem a reed with feathers ; 
Filled the pipe with bark of willow. 
Placed a burning coal upon it. 

Gave it to his guest, the stranger, 40 

And began to speak in this wise : 

" When I blow my breath about me, 
"When I breathe upon the landscape. 
Motionless are all the rivers. 
Hard as stone becomes the water ! " 45 

And the young man answered, smiling : 
" When I blow my breath about me. 
When I breathe upon the landscape. 
Flowers spring up o'er all the meadows. 
Singing, onward rush the rivers I" 50 

" When I shake my hoary tresses," 
Said the old man darkly frowning, 
*' All the land with snow is covered ; 
All the leaves from all the branches 
Fall and fade and die and wither, 55 

For I breathe, and lo ! they are not. 
From the w^aters and the marshes 
Else the wild goose and the heron. 
Fly away to distant regions. 

For I speak, and lo ! they are not. 60 

And where'er my footsteps wander. 
All the wild beasts of the forest 
Hide themselves in holes and caverns. 
And the earth becomes as flintstone ! " 

1 as in i. 16-31. 



THE WHITE man's FOOT. 155 

" AVlien I shake my flowing ringlets," 65 

Said the young man, softly laughing, 
^' Showers of rain fall warm and welcome. 
Plants lift up their heads rejoicing. 
Back uuto their lakes and marshes 
Come the wikl goose and the heron, 70 

Homeward shoots the arrowy swallow, 
Sing the bluebird and the robin. 
And where'er my footsteps wander. 
All the meadows wave with blossoms. 
All the woodlands ring with music, 75 

All the trees are dark with foliage ! " 

While they spake, the night departed : 
From the distant realms of Wabun,' 
From his shining lodge of silver. 
Like a warrior robed and j)ainted, 80 

Came the sun, and said, " Behold me ! 
Gheezis, the great sun, behold me ! " 

Then the old man's tongue was speechless 
And the air grew warm and pleasant. 
And upon the wigwam sweetly 85 

Sang the bluebird and the robin, 
And the stream began to murmur. 
And a scent of growing grasses 
Through the lodge was gently wafted. 

And Segwun, the youthful stranger, 90 

More distinctly in the daylight 
Saw the icy face before him ; 
It w^as Peboan, the Winter ! 

From his eyes the tears were flowing. 
As from melting lakes the streamlets, 95 

And his body shrunk and dwindled 
As the shouting sun ascended, 
Till into the air it faded, 

' Wabun the East Wind, whence comes the Dawn, ii. 83. 



156 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Till into the ground it vanished. 

And the young man saw before him, 100 

On the hearth-stone of the wigwam, 

Where the fire had smoked and smouldered, 

Saw the earliest flower of Spring-time, 

Saw tlie Beauty of the Spring-time,^ 

Saw the Miskodeed in blossom. 105 

Tlius it was that in the North-land 
After that unheard-of coldness. 
That intolerable Winter, 
Came the Spring with all its splendor, 
All its birds and all its blossoms, 110 

All its flowers and leaves and grasses. 

Sailing on the wind to northward, 
Flying in great flocks, like arrows. 
Like huge arrows shot through heaven. 
Passed the swan, the Mahnahbezee, 115 

Speaking almost as a man speaks ; 
And in long lines waving, bending 
Like a bow-string snapped asunder. 
Came the white goose, Waw-be-wawa ; 
And in pairs, or singly flying, 120 

Mahng the loon, with clangorous pinions. 
The blue heron, tlie Shuh-shuh-gah, 
And the grouse, the Mushkodasa. 

In the thickets and the meadows 
Piped the bluebird, the Owaissa, 125 

On the summit of the lodges 
Sang the robin, the Opechee, 
In tlie covert of the pine-trees 
Cooed the pigeon, the Omemee, 

And the sorrowing Hiawatha, 130 

Speechless in his infinite sorrow. 
Heard their voices calling to him, 

1 more commonly called the Spring Beauty. 



THE WHITE man's FOOT. 157 

Went forth from liis gloomy doorway. 

Stood and gazed into the heaven. 

Gazed upon the earth and waters. 135 

From his wanderings far to eastward, 
From the regions of tlie morning. 
From the shining land of Wabun, 
Homeward noAV returned lagoo. 

The great traveller, the great boaster, 140 

Full of new and strange adventures. 
Marvels many and many wonders. 

And the jieople of the village 
Listened to him as he told them 
Of his marvellous adventures, 145 

Laughing answered him in this wise : 
'* Ugh ! it is indeed lagoo ! 
'No one else beholds such wonders ! " 

He had seen, he said, a water 
Bigger than the Big-Sea- Water, 150 

Broader than the Gitche Gumee, 
Bitter so that none could drink it ! ' 
At each other looked the warriors. 
Looked the women at each other, 
Smiled, and said, "It cannot be so ! 155 

Kaw ! " they said, '' it cannot be so ! " 

O'er it, said he, o'er this water 
Came a great canoe with pinions,^ 
A canoe with wings came flying, 
Bigger than a grove' of pine-trees, 160 

Taller than the tallest tree-tops ! 
And the old men and the women 
Looked and tittered at each other ; 
" Kaw ! " they said, '^ we don't believe it ! " 

From its mouth, he said, to greet him, 165 

Came Waywassimo, the lightning, 

* He had beeu as far as the Atlantic Ocean. 2 the sails of a ship. 



158 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Came the tlinndei% Annemeekee ! ' 

And the warriors and the women 

Laughed aload at poor lagoo ; 

'' Kaw ! " they said, " what tales you tell us ! " 170 

In it, said he, came a peoj^le. 
In the great canoe with pinions 
Came, he said, a hundred warriors ; 
Painted wdiite were all their faces. 
And with hair their chins were covered ! ^ 175 

And the warriors and the women 
Laughed and shouted in derision. 
Like the ravens on the tree-tops. 
Like the crows upon the hemlocks. 
*' Kaw ! " they said, " what lies you tell us ! 180 
Do not think that we believe them ! " 

Only Hiawatha laughed not. 
But he gravely spake and answered 
To their jeering and their jesting : 
*' True is all lagoo tells us ; 185 

I have seen it in a vision,^ 
Seen the great canoe with pinions. 
Seen the people with white faces. 
Seen the coming of this bearded 
People of the wooden vessel 190 

From the regions of the morning. 
From the shining land of Wabun. 

" Gitche Manito the Mighty, 
The Great Spirit, the Creator, 

Sends them hither on his errand, 195 

Sends them to us with his message. 
Wheresoe'er they move, before them 
Swarms the stinging fly, the Ahmo, 
Swarms the bee, the honey-maker ; 

1 the report of cannon. - The Indian pulls out the hair from his face. 

3 The Indian has a firm belief in dreams. 



THE WHITE MANS FOOT. 



159 



Wheresoe'er they tread, beneath them 200 

Springs a flower unknown among us, 
Springs the White-man's Foot in blossom. 

" Let us welcome, then, the strangers,' 
Hail them as our friends and brothers. 
And the heart's right hand of friendship 205 

Give them when they come to see us. 
Gitche Manito, the Mighty, 
Said this to me in my vision. 

'' I beheld, too, in that vision 
All the secrets of the futare, ^10 

Of the distant days that shall be. 
I beheld the westward marches 
Of the unknown, crowded nations. 
All the land was full of people. 

Restless, struggling, toiling, striving, 215 

Speaking many tongues, yet feeling 
But one heart-beat in their bosoms.^ 
In the woodlands rang their axes, /.- 
Smoked their towns in all the valleys. 
Over all the lakes and rivers 220 

Rushed their great canoes of thunder.' 

*' Then a darker, drearier vision 
Passed before me, vague and cloud-like : 
I beheld our nation scattered. 

All forgetful of my counsel, 225 

Weakened, warring with each other ; 
Saw the remnants of our people 
Sweeping westward, wild and woeful, 
Like the cloud-rack of a tempest. 
Like the withered leaves of autumn ! " * 230 

1 The Algonkin tribes, as a rule, greeted ^ steamboats. 

the white men in friendship. * The Indians are now but a remnant of 

2 Longfellow is thinking of the western what they were, and the broad lands over 
emigrations which began immediately on which they roamed are almost entirely pos- 
the ending of the Revolutionary War. sessed by the whites. It seems sad, perhaps, 



160 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

XXII. 

Hiawatha's departure. 

By the shore of Gitche Gnmee, 

By the shining Big- Sea- Water, 

At the doorway of his wigwam, 

In the pleasant Summer morning, 

Hiawatha stood and waited. 5 

All the air was full of freshness. 
All the earth w^as hright and joyous. 
And before him, through the sunshine. 
Westward toward the neighboring forest 
Passed in golden swarms the Ahmo, 10 

Passed the bees, the honey-makers. 
Burning, singing in the sunshine. 

Bright above him shone the heavens. 
Level spread the lake before him ; 
Prom its bosom leaped the sturgeon, 15 

Sparkling, flashing in the sunshine ; 
On its margin the great forest 
Stood reflected in the water. 
Every tree-top had its shadow. 
Motionless beneath the water. 20 

From the brow of Hiawatha 
Gone was every trace of sorrow. 
As the fog from off the water. 
As the mist from off the meadow. 
With a smile of joy and triumph, 25 

With a look of exultation, 

to think of the Indian as he was and as he many people of our own race and civiliza- 

is now. But we cannot really regret that tion. There is much about the means by 

the great country, which once served as a which the fact was accomplished that we 

hunting ground for perhaps a million sav- must regret, but the fact itself is good. 
ages, now gives homes to sixty times as 



Hiawatha's departure. 161 

As of one wlio in a vision 
Sees what is to be, but is not. 
Stood and waited Hiawatha. 

Toward the sun his bauds were lifted, 30 

Both the pabns spread out against it. 
And between the parted fingers 
Fell the sunshine on his features. 
Flecked with light his naked shoulders. 
As it falls and flecks an oak-tree 35 

Through the rifted leaves and branches. 

O'er the water floating, flying. 
Something in the hazy distance, 
Something in the mists of morning. 
Loomed and lifted from the water, 40 

Now seemed floating, now seemed flying, 
Coming nearer, nearer, nearer. 

Was it Shingebis the diver ? 
Was it the pelican, the Shada? 

Or the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah ? 45 

Or the white goose, Waw-be-wawa, 
With the water dripping, flashing 
From its glossy neck and feathers ? 

It was neither goose nor diver, 
Neither pelican nor heron, 60 

O'er the water floating, flying, 
Through the shining mist of morning. 
But a birch canoe with paddles. 
Rising, sinking on the water. 

Dripping, flashing in the sunshine ; 55 

And within it came a peojjle 
From the distant land of Wabun, 
From the farthest realms of morning 
Came the Black-Eobe ' chief, the Prophet, 

I Cf. " Evangeline," 1. 1,167. 
11 



162 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

He the Priest of Prayer, the Pale-face/ 60 

AYith his guides and his companions. 

And the noble Hiawatha, 
With his hands aloft extended. 
Held aloft in sign of welcome, 

Waited, full of exultation, 65 

Till tlie birch canoe with paddles 
Grated on the shining pebbles, 
Stranded on the sandy margin. 
Till the Black-Robe chief, the Pale-face, 
With the cross upon his bosom, 70 

Landed on the sandy margin. 

Then the joyous Hiawatha 
Cried aloud and spake in this wise : 
" Beautiful is the sun, strangers, 
When you come so far to see us ! 75 

All our town in peace awaits you. 
All our doors stand open for you ; 
You shall enter all our wigwams. 
For the heart's right hand we give you. 

"ISTever bloomed the earth so gayly, 80 

Never shone the sun so brightly, 
As to-day they shine and blossom 
When you come so far to see us ! 
Never was our lake so tranquil, 

Nor so free from rocks and sand-bars ; 85 

For your birch canoe in passing 
Has removed both rock and sand-bar. 

*' Never before had our tobacco 
Such a sweet and pleasant flavor. 
Never the broad leaves of our corn-fields 90 

Were so beautiful to look on, 

1 Longfellow has in mind Father Mar- aries to visit it and one of the most earnest 
quette, who, though not the discoverer of of the Jesuit workers. 
Lake Superior, was the first of the mission- 



HIAWATHA'S DEPARTURE. 163 

As they seem to us tliis morning, 
When you come so far to see us ! " 

And the Black-Eobe chief made answer. 
Stammered in his speech a little, 95 

Speaking words yet unfamiliar : 
" Peace be with you, Hiawatha, 
Peace be with you and your people. 
Peace of prayer, and peace of pardon. 
Peace of Christ, and joy of Mary ! " 100 

Then the generous Hiawatha 
Led the strangers to his wigwam, 
Seated them on skins of bison, 
Seated them on skins of ermine. 
And the careful old ]^okomis 105 

Brought them food in bowls of bass-wood, 
Water brought in birchen dippers. 
And the calumet, the peace-pipe, 
Filled and lighted for their smoking. 

All the old men of the village, 110 

All the warriors of the nation. 
All the Jossakeeds, the prophets. 
The magicians, the Wabenos, 
And the medicine-men, the Medas,* 
Came to bid the strangers welcome ; 115 

**It is well," they said, " brothers. 
That you come so far to see us ! " 

In a circle round the doorway. 
With their pipes they sat in silence. 
Waiting to behold the strangers, 120 

Waiting to receive their message ; 
Till the Black-Eobe chief, the Pale-face, 
From the wigwam came to greet them. 
Stammering in his speech a little, 
Speaking words yet unfamiliar ; 125 

1 See XV. 87-89. 



164 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

" It is well/' they said, " brother. 
That you come so far to see ns ! " 

Then the Black-Robe chief, the Prophet, 
Told his message to the people. 

Told the purport of his mission, 130 

Told them of the Virgin Mary, 
And her blessed Son, the Saviour, 
How in distant lands and ages 
He had lived on earth as we do ; 
How he fasted, prayed, and labored ; 135 

How the Jews, the tribe accursed. 
Mocked him, scourged him, crucified him ; 
How he rose from where they laid him. 
Walked again with his disciples. 
And ascended into heaven/ 140 

And the chiefs made answer, saying : 
** We have listened to your message. 
We have heard your words of wisdom. 
We will think on what you tell us. 
It is well for us, brothers, 145 

That you come so far to see us ! ^' 

Then they rose up and departed 
Each one homeward to his wigwam. 
To the young men and the women 
Told the story of the strangers 150 

Whom the Master of Life had sent them 
From the shining land of Wabun. 

Heavy with the heat and silence 
Grew the afternoon of Summer, 

With a drowsy sound the forest 155 

Whispered round the sultry wigwam. 
With a sound of sleep the water 

^ The French were the first white explor- always the Jesuit missionaries, who labored 
ers of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi, for the conversion of the Indian in the most 
And among the foremost explorers were earnest and heroic manner. 



HIAWATHA'S DEPARTUKE. 165 

Eippled on the beach below it ; 

From the corn-fields shrill and ceaseless 

Sang the grasshopper, Pah-puk-keena ; 160 

And the guests of Hiawatha, 

Weary with the heat of Summer, 

Slumbered in the sultry wigwam. 

Slowly o'er the simmering landscape 
Fell the evening's dusk and coolness, 165 

And the long and level sunbeams 
Shot their spears into the forest. 
Breaking through its shields of shadow, 
Eushed into each secret ambush. 
Searched each thicket, dingle,^ hollow ; 170 

Still the guests of Hiawatha 
Slumbered in the silent wigwam. 

From his place rose Hiawatha, 
Bade farewell to old Nokomis, 

Spake in whispers, spake in this wise, 175 

Did not wake the guests, that slumbered : 

*' I am going, l^okomis. 
On a long and distant journey. 
To the portals of the Sunset, 

To the regions of the home-wind, 180 

Of the Northwest wind, Keewaydin.'' 
But these guests I leave behind me. 
In your watch and ward I leave them ; 
See that never harm comes near them. 
See that never fear molests them, 185 

Never danger nor suspicion, 
Never want of food or shelter. 
In the lodge of Hiawatha ! " 

Forth into the village went he. 
Bade farewell to all the warriors. 190 

1 a little valley. 
3 See iv. 234. 



166 THE SONG OF HIAWATHA. 

Bade farewell to all the young men. 
Spake persuading, spake in this wise ; 

" I am going, 0' my people, 
On a long and distant journey ; 

Many moons' and many wdnters 195 

Will have come, and wdll have vanished. 
Ere I come again to see you. 
But my guests I leave behind me ; 
Listen to their words of wisdom. 
Listen to the truth they tell you, 200 

For the Master of Life has sent them 
From the land of light and morning ! " 

On the shore stood Hiawatha, 
Turned and waved his hand at parting ; 
On the clear and luminous water 205 

Launched his birch canoe lor sailing. 
From the pebbles of the margin 
Shoved it forth into the water ; 
Whispered to it, '' Westward ! w^estward ! " 
And with speed it darted forward. 210 

And the evening sun descending 
Set the clouds on fire wdth redness. 
Burned the broad sky, like a prairie, 
Left upon the level water 

One long track and trail of splendor, 215 

Down whose stream, as down a river. 
Westward, westward Hiawatha 
Sailed into the fiery sunset. 
Sailed into the purple vapors. 
Sailed into the dusk of evening. 220 

And the people from the margin 
AVatched him floating, rising, sinking. 
Till the birch canoe seemed lifted 
High into that sea of splendor, 

1 See ii. 177. 



HIAWATHA S DEPARTURE. 167 

Till it sank into the vapors 225 

Like the new moon slowly, slowly 
Sinking in the jiurple distance. 

And they said, " Farewell forever ! " 
Said, " Farewell, Hiawatha ! " 
And the forests, dark and lonely, 230 

Moved through all their depths of darkness; 
Sighed, '' Farewell, Hiawatha ! " 
And the waves upon the margin 
Eising, rippling on the pebbles. 

Sobbed, " Farewell, Hiawatha ! " 235 

And the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, 
From her haunts among the fen-lands. 
Screamed, " Farewell, Hiawatha ! " 

Thus departed Hiawatha, 
Hiaivatha the Beloved, 240 

In the glory of the sunset. 
In the purple mists of evening. 
To the regions of the home- wind. 
Of the Northwest wind, Keewaydin, 
To the Islands of the Blessed, 245 

To the kingdom of Ponemah, 
■ • To the land of the Hereafter ! ' ' 

1 This conclusion to the legend of Hia- least, I do not find it among the tales of 
watha we probably owe to Longfellow ; at Manabozho or of Hiawatha. 



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